The craze for VIP vehicle registration numbers continues in Mohali, with number 0001 of the PB-65BM series fetching a whopping ₹18.38 lakh against a reserve price of ₹5 lakh, in an online auction that concluded on Wednesday.
According to officials, the e-auction, which began at 9 am on October 7 and continued until 2.59 pm on October 8, saw intense bidding for several fancy numbers.
The number 0008 of this series received the second-highest bid of ₹6.95 lakh against a reserve price of ₹2 lakh while 0005 was auctioned for ₹6.78 lakh. The bids for 0007 and 0009 stood at ₹5.45 lakh and ₹5.08 lakh, respectively.
Other popular numbers also fetched impressive prices — 0002 went for ₹4.37 lakh, 0003 for ₹3.72 lakh, 0004 for ₹2.48 lakh, and 0006 for ₹2.48 lakh. Among the two-digit numbers, 0019 drew a bid of ₹5.21 lakh, while 0031 fetched ₹5.19 lakh.
Officials noted that compared to the previous series, the winning bid for 0001 was about ₹2 lakh higher this time.
{{/usCountry}}Officials noted that compared to the previous series, the winning bid for 0001 was about ₹2 lakh higher this time.
{{/usCountry}}The bidding for number 0001 intensified during the final 30 minutes of the auction. At noon, the highest bid stood at ₹9.48 lakh, which rapidly climbed to ₹14.88 lakh by 2.44 pm, ₹15.4 lakh by 2.46 pm, and reached ₹16.75 lakh by 2.52 pm. The number finally crossed the ₹18-lakh mark just before the auction closed.
In an auction held in August at Chandigarh, 0001 of the CH01-DA series fetched ₹36.43 lakh against a reserve price of ₹5 lakh. In the auction of May, the coveted CH-01-CZ-0001 fetched a whopping ₹31 lakh, while in an auction held in February this year, CH-01-CY-0001 went under the hammer for ₹25 lakh.