Ragpickers struck gold outside the stadium last night, where they collected thousands of plastic bottles. Pics/Satej Shinde

Last night when Justin Bieber crooned at DY Patil stadium, his sensational Indian debut did not just leave his large posse of fans happy, but also a small group of ragpickers, who struck gold, outside the concert venue.

With a massive audience of over 40,000 in attendance at the stadium, the ragpickers collected more than 20 huge sacks of plastic bottles that had been recklessly dumped outside the stadium. The ragpickers, who were at the venue for over five hours, were seen picking up bottles from the parking lot and service road. They later took away their spoils in a specially booked autorickshaw.

Ragpickers struck gold outside the stadium last night, where they collected thousands of plastic bottles. Pics/Satej Shinde

Ten times the earnings

"Usually, we manage to fill just bag of plastic, and barely make Rs. 100-150 per day. But, thanks to the show, we collected over 20 bags of plastic bottles. We hope to earn anywhere between Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 2,000 after selling the bottles,” said ragpicker Vijwala Kale. The group will be selling the plastic waste for Rs. 50 per kilo.  After the day came to a close, Kale was so happy with the collection that she started calling herself a Belieber. "I have now become a Belieber. Because of him, we hit jackpot," she said.