Moser Baer was an Indian multinational manufacturer of optical discs, storage devices, CDs, DVDs, based in New Delhi. The company was present in over 100 countries, serviced through 15 marketing offices and representatives, and had tie-ups with other optical media storage manufacturers. Its products were manufactured at its three plants in New Delhi, which employed over 8,000 people. The company had subsidiaries that manufactured photovoltaic cells and modules using crystalline silicon and thin film technologies.

History

Moser Baer India was founded in New Delhi in 1983 as a Time Recorder unit in technical collaboration with Maruzen Corporation (ja), Japan and Moser Baer Sumiswald (de), Switzerland. In 1988, it moved into the data storage industry, manufacturing 5.25-inch floppy diskettes. 1993, it started manufacturing 3.5-inch floppy diskettes (MFD). In 1999, it set up a high-capacity plant to manufacture recordable Compact Disks (CD-Rs) and recordable Digital Versatile Disks (DVD-Rs). At the time, the company was the only large Indian manufacturer of magnetic and optical media data storage products, exporting around 85 percent of its production. In 2006, the company expanded into the Photovoltaic cells and Home entertainment industries. In 2016, NAND flash device controller supplier Phison Electronics is partnering with Moser Baer and Sahasra Electronics, India's two largest electronics manufacturers, to expand its business in India, according to Phison chairman Khein Seng Pua. The company was ordered liquidated due to its bankruptcy on 20 September 2018. A forensic audit of the company's finances found several irregularities in Moser Baer's accounts on 26 September 2018. The Central Bank of India declared Moser Baer's accounts as fraudulent on 20 April 2019. The Central Bank of India filed a first information report against Moser Baer on 16 August 2019. The Enforcement Directorate arrested Ratul Puri, a former executive director of Moser Baer and son of Deepak Puri, for a ₹354 crore bank fraud case on 20 August 2019. Ratul Puri, Deepak Puri, and several other directors have been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and corruption. Seeing a void in the tangible digital storage market, Vinpower, Inc. (dba Vinpower Digital), assumed the role by acquiring the rights to Moser Baer and introducing a new line of digital storage products under the Moser Baer brand. These products are focused on optical discs and flash media, continuing the Moser Baer MID and mix of professional and consumer grade storage products.

Timeline

Certifications & Recognition