Orient Craft Limited, a 40-year-old apparels manufacturer and exporter based in Gurugram, Haryana, is formally set to commence its operation in Irba, Ormanjhi block, some 25km from Ranchi, from Saturday, the first such plant in the state of Jharkhand, to support its growing export business. The new plant will be jointly inaugurated by Union textile minister Smriti Irani and chief minister Das.

Orient Craft supplies a wide range of garments, home furnishings and knitwear to brands across the world, including GAP, Polo, Marks & Spencer, among others.

Orient Craft chairman and managing director Sudhir Dhingra said that they managed to set up their Irba unit within four-and-a-half months of the investors' summit to showcase "their equal commitment to match steps with the Jharkhand government".

It's a small unit as a pilot project but spans no less than 25,000sqft. The reason they could work early on as they were given an existing building that they renovated to suit their needs,"Dhingra said, heaping praise on the government for its "quick decision to allot space and relevant clearances.

Their big unit will come up in Hotwar at the proposed 25-acre industrial park. They will commission their factory on around 4 lakh sqft area and gradually expand depending on space.

At the Irba unit, 225 machines have been set up to churn out anywhere between 1.5-2 lakh garments worth over Rs 3 crore every month and it will provide jobs to 900 youths but Dhingra added that they plan to create 12,000 to 15,000 jobs in Jharkhand.

They have rigorously trained their manpower, mostly local. This apart, they shall be getting master trainers from outside from time to time. In fact, many people from Jharkhand are on their rolls in other parts of the country whom they plan to depute here as master trainers like a ghar wapasi.

Hotwar plant would operate in a phased manner. "The first phase, which will offer jobs to 2,000 people, is expected by January, 2018. The second phase by March 2018 will give employment to another 8,000 people.

A source said that Orient Craft would pump in Rs 250 crore in three to five years, with the Irba pilot unit coming up in an investment of Rs 5 crore. Though investment numbers tend to be smaller, it can bring a tremendous social revolution.