Jaipur, March 18 (IANS): Rajasthan’s Principal Secretary of Mines and Petroleum, T. Ravikant, said on Tuesday that the State Mines Department has achieved revenue collection of Rs 8,350.75 crore till March 15, marking an impressive 22.58 per cent growth rate. This figure surpasses the previous year’s collection of Rs 7,460.48 crore by Rs 890.27 crore, Ravikant said. He instructed field officers to adopt an aggressive strategy for revenue collection as the financial year approaches its end. Emphasising the need to set a new record, he urged the department to explore all possible avenues to recover outstanding dues owed to the state government. During a virtual meeting with field officers at the Khanij Bhawan on Tuesday, Ravikant stressed that daily monitoring of revenue collection will be conducted, and any negligence in achieving the targets will not be tolerated. He directed officers to take strict measures for the recovery of old and current dues, upfront payment amounts, premium amounts, outstanding amounts from illegal mining activities, Royalty Collection Contracts-Excess Royalty Collection Contracts, Amnesty Scheme recoveries, and royalty payments from leaseholders. He added that recovery efforts should be clearly reflected in the department’s progress and that officers must ensure maximum revenue realisation before the financial year ends. Director of Mines, Deepak Tanwar, said that recoveries should be pursued in cases where no court stay orders exist. He urged officials to identify pending cases and work towards recovering the targeted amount to achieve a new revenue record. Joint Secretary of Mines, Ashu Chaudhary, instructed that answers to Assembly queries be prioritised, prompt action be taken on investigation cases, departmental promotion committee meetings be held as required, and pending cases be resolved without delay. Jaipur has taken the lead in the SME category, while Bhilwara has recorded the highest revenue collection, said officials. The meeting was attended by Additional Directors M.P. Meena, Mahesh Mathur, P.R. Ameta, Y.S. Sehwal, among other officers.