Birbhum recorded more than ₹3.44 crore in revenue from stone-related District Collection Receipts (DCR) on October 11, according to figures published by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, with the single-day collection exceeding the amount collected during the entire October of the previous year.
The state collected ₹3,44,11,410 from stone DCRs on October 11, compared with approximately ₹3.28 crore during October last year, the report said. From October 1 to 11 this year, total revenue from the category reached ₹32,17,38,595.20, against 41,333 receipts generated during the period.
The figures show a sharp increase over the previous day, when collections stood at ₹2,30,65,020. Collections on October 8 were also above ₹3 crore, at ₹3,23,23,500, according to the data cited in the report.
Adhikari credited the district administration and the land department for the collection performance and expressed the expectation that Birbhum could cross ₹100 crore in stone revenue during the month. The October target has not yet been reached, and the figures for the remaining days will determine whether the stated target is met.
Higher Education Minister and Suri legislator Jagannath Chattopadhyay attributed the increase to action against alleged revenue leakage under the previous administration. The report also cited allegations by BJP leaders that the government had earlier received less than 10% of the amount it was entitled to from the stone trade. Those allegations were presented as political claims and were not independently established in the supplied material.
The report said district authorities had taken action against illegal operations and arrested several associates of businessman Tulu Mondal, who was described as having influence over DCR collection during the previous government. The supplied account did not provide details of the cases, the arrests or the administrative orders involved.
Stone-related revenue is linked to the regulation of a material used across construction and infrastructure supply chains. The immediate figures therefore indicate a significant change in reported collections, but they do not by themselves establish whether the increase resulted from higher extraction, improved compliance, enforcement action, changes in accounting or a combination of these factors. The district administration’s collection figures and the state government’s target will remain the key measures as October progresses.
