Ashiq Patel from Ahmedabad
The cost of India’s most expensive number plate is Rs 34 lakh, which is more than the cost of the vehicle having the number plate. The number plate is registered in the name of Ashiq Patel from Ahmedabad, who is a James Bond fan and got the coveted “007” for his Toyota Fortuner.
The Toyota Fortuner, ex-Delhi showroom price wise, will set you back Rs 30 lakh.
Registration plates on cars have more importance than we think. Even though we live in a country where having your own vehicle is a big achievement, there are a select few people in the country who can even get a number plate of their choice. Of course, only a select few are going to benefit from this access given to the RTO. Since registration plates in India cannot be completely customized, RTOs put up single and double digit registration plates for auction. Since India is a country with a lot of superstitious people, it is easy for RTOs to sell more than reasonable prices and earn a lot of money from this business. Here are some such registration plates which are easily as expensive as a brand new car.
James Bond fan – Ashik Patel bid for the “007” registration number recently. He spent more than Rs 34 lakh for getting the number for his new Toyota Fortuner. The price of the Fortuner starts at about Rs 30 lakh and this registration number costs even more than that.
The auction of this particular number plate was started through an online portal, and the starting amount was just Rs. 25,000. However, the price rose quickly, and Aashiq made his winning bid just minutes before the auction ended.
K.S. Balagopal from Kerela
KS Balagopal from Kerala owns one of the most expensive registration plates on his Porsche 718 Boxster. The registration plate which goes like KL 01 CK 0001 costs Rs. 31 lakhs. The 718 Boxster that Mr. Balagopal drove cost him Rs. 90 lakhs, ex-showroom. He really wanted the number plate and hence he spent more than one third of the cost of his car on the number plate.
KS Balagopal’s garage
The LC200 Land Cruiser is another prized possession in Mr. Balagopal’s garage. He went ahead with the same 001 registration number for his Land Cruiser as well. It has been some time since the auction of this number plate was won by Mr. Balagopal and the deal was then closed at Rs. 18 lakhs. The Toyota Land Cruiser comes with the registration number ‘KL01 CB0001’ and the price of Mr. Balagopal is approximately Rs. 1 crore, ex-showroom. With this, Mr. Balagopal becomes the owner of two of the most expensive registration plates in India.
Mr Jagjit Singh from Chandigarh
In third place, one of the most expensive number plates in India is owned by Mr. Jagjit Singh of Chandigarh. He auctioned off the number plate “CH01 AN0001” for his Toyota Land Cruiser and won. The black colored Land Cruiser is one of the most expensive cars in his garage and he has several other high-end cars with the registration number ‘0001‘, however, the price of those number plates has not been told to us.
Rahul Taneja from Jaipur
Rahul Taneja is one of India’s distinctive rags to the story of the rich. He started out as an auto-rickshaw driver, but his hard work has made him very successful. Rahul is known to spend over Rs 40 lakh on the registration plate of his choice, however, the costliest number plate costs Rs. 16 lakhs. Jaipur RTO has declared it the most expensive registration plate of Jaipur.
Rahul Taneja from Rajasthan
Rahul Taneja is known for the next most expensive number plate which costs Rs. 10.31 lakh for the registration of his BMW 5-Series. Even this registration ends with “1”. Rahul is known to believe strongly in numerology and hence thinks number 1 is lucky for him. They sold their 5-Series, however retained the registration plate and are using it on the 7-Series.