Ranchi: The sleepy block of Rahe, some 50km from the state capital, is silently gaining lustre.

City-based entrepreneur Jyoti Shanker Kar, who gave up his plum job in the telecom sector a year ago to pursue start-up ambitions with two friends, is culturing pearls in 15 ponds on leased land, a project that the fisheries department believes can be turned into a money-spinner in the rural hinterland.

Deputy director (fisheries) Ashish Kumar is so impressed with Kar's pearl culture that, during a meeting with Nabard on Friday, he shared the idea with the rural banking giant so that funding possibilities for similar projects could be explored.

Speaking to this correspondent, Kumar said they planned to promote pearl culture for which a workshop module would first be drafted. "Around 1.26 lakh dobas (small ponds) were dug up in the state last year, of which at least 40 per cent have perennial water source. Besides fishing, we can start pearl culture now," he added.

Kar, who trained in Gujarat for his unique business before leasing ponds on two acres in Rahe, warned that pearl culture could be perfected only through trial and error.

"The main pond measures 300ft by 290ft while the rest 14 are 200sqft each. We are currently using 25,000 mussels (a small shellfish) to make pearls, but target one lakh by the end of this year. We are sourcing mussels from Bengal and Bihar," he said.

Explaining the artificial process of making pearls, Kar said they injected the mother-of-pearl nucleus (a small bead-like substance) into a mussel and waited for 8-9 months. "The foreign substance causes irritation in the host mollusc and it releases layers of calcium carbonate over a period of time, resulting in lustrous pearls."

The size of a pearl depends on the nuclei. It can be as small as 2mm in diameter or large at 16mm. Dyes can be injected to add colour to the pearl, Kar said.

In case of natural pearls, the colour is determined genetically by the host mollusc. Different types of mollusks can produce pearls in many colours. The hues are affected by water conditions, disease or nutrient supply.The returns are expected to be good.

"To prepare one mussel, we spend Rs 50. Each pearl can be sold at Rs 300. The profit margin is high. So far, we have cultured around 600 pearls, but we haven't begun selling them yet. They are being kept for demonstration to other interested farmers," the entrepreneur said, adding that they would market the product once production begins in bulk.