A 22-year old boy of Tripura has set an outstanding example by opening up livelihood opportunities during the pandemic when the entire country is in ‘technical recession’. Rohit Bhattarcharjee a second-year student pursuing English Honours has opened up an LED bulb manufacturing factory that is currently employing eight people. Out of the eight, three employees lost their job in Bangalore during the pandemic.
He said the idea of opening a manufacturing factory came after he had an issue with a defective LED bulb at his home in March. With the lockdown happening, he struggled to find a substitution and started watching YouTube videos regarding fixing LED bulbs. Soon he began watching videos on making LED bulbs and a few weeks later, he set up a small LED bulb manufacturing unit at Algapur (North Tripura) with his family’s help. They invested Rs.5 lakh to buy machines and equipments and set up a factory at an ancestral plot of land.
Rohit’s target is to light up every household of Tripura with low-cost lighting solutions. The name of his company is RB Illuminators. After a few months, he gained more knowledge through internet and LED chip manufacturers in Delhi to know about the technology of making these bulbs. From making 50 bulbs a day, his unit is now manufacturing around 500 to 800 bulbs each day. His company got a trade license and other clearances on safety from the government.
The factory produces bulbs in four different variants – 0.5 watts, 7 watts, 9 watts and 12-watt bulbs- priced from Rs.40 to Rs.115. According to him, his products are different from other brands in terms of luminosity, quality and warranty. RB Illuminators has set its target on an annual turnover of Rs. 2.5-3 lakh.
He firmly believes that entrepreneurship should be explored as a career option as it has immense potential for nation-building. He hasn’t taken any loan yet but feels that the existing self-employment schemes like Mudra Yojana and Atmanirbhar Bharat Yojana have potential to fulfil start-up aspirations. Appreciating the state government’s schemes to increase self-employment and creating jobs, he hopes to join politics and contribute to society later in life.
