Jamshedpur, Aug. 5: A discarded piece of wood has the potential to be a "thing of beauty" as well as a source of livelihood.

No one knows it better that Ghatshila-based social entrepreneur Utpal Shaw, who has carved a flourishing business called Pipal Tree by engaging women who make utility products from waste wood.

Set up in 2014 with just three artisans, Pipal Tree now employs 85 women in and around Ghatshila as full-time workers and 30 who work part time. With deft strokes of knives and chisels, they transform the mundane wood into functional and decorative items such as pen stand, cutlery stand, key rings, photo frames, trays, jewellery boxes and decorative wall hangings.

Priced between Rs 100-2,000, these pieces have created a niche for themselves in the retail space and are fast flying off the shelves.

An NIIT graduate, Utpal, 30, had started an e-learning business with a couple of his friends in New Delhi in 2012 soon after completing graduation. When the venture failed to take off, he returned to his home town Ghatshila in 2013 and started researching on tribal handicrafts. During his research, he came across Pramod Kumar, an artisan who had been selling wooden key rings in front of Jamshedpur Eye Hospital in Sakchi.

"I started experimenting with tribal art on wood and it worked. I also trained some of the villagers in Uparpora in Ghatshila and three of them continued to work with us," Shaw said.

Initially, they used to sell the products door-to-door and got a good response. Later, they rented the veranda of a furniture shop and that too drew a lot of customers.

The turnover for the first year (October 2014-March 2015) was Rs 4 lakh, which doubled in the next year when Pipal Tree started to sell to Jharcraft. It got retail spaces near Eylex Fun N Films on NH-33, Jamshedpur and in Lalpur, Ranchi, which increased their turnover to Rs 18 lakh in 2016-17.

Besides finding his purpose, Shaw draws satisfaction from the fact that the initiative has brought about a positive change in the life of women in Uparpora. Those working for Pipal Tree as full-time employees earn Rs 5,000-6,000 per month, while part-time workers take home Rs 2,000-3,000. Managers draw around Rs 7,000-9,000 as monthly salary.

The firm utilises wood used in packing and transporting materials by industries as the raw material besides discarded plywood.