Titan Industries Ltd's jewellery arm - Tanishq - is looking at setting up a pilot - Karigar Park - project as part of its initiative to set up self help ancillary jewellery-making units to provide alternative employment opportunities to struggling traditional jewellery-markers or Karigars as they are referred to as. In support of this project, Tanishq is looking at diverting some of its outsourced 22K ornament crafting work to the craftsmen in the Karigar park which will be set up near the company's jewellery factory in Hosur.

To start with, the pilot project will have two groups of artisans (7-10 people in each team) in a structured hierarchy and will work with Tanishq directly. ''Through this self help group we will be eliminating the intermediary completely and this will function like an ancillary/captive jewellery unit of Tanishq. This will also give the Karigar's a chance to work in a structured fashion but still have their independence,'' Tanishq COO Jacob Kurian told The Financial Express.

According to Mr Kurian, Tanishq was currently working out the modalities regarding the size of outsourced work that will be handed over to the craftsman. ''We have quite a large outsourcing quantum especially in our 22K category where maximum work is outsourced to captive vendors. We will divert some of this work to people at the park,'' he added. Also currently, Tanishq's sales have outgrown its manufacturing capacity and the company is looking at increasing output without investing in more direct workforce.