Indian vehicle number plate
(Representational image)A boy stands in front of displayed car number plates and other signs at an automobile market in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi June 7, 2012Reuters

Pharmaceutical distributor and resident of Kowdiar, K.S. Balagopal, secured the fancy number KL 01 CB1 for a whopping Rs 19 lakh in an auction held at the office of Regional Transport Officer (RTO), Thiruvananthapuram, on Monday.

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KL 01 CB1 has become the costliest registration number in the state and it will be placed on Balagopal's Toyota Landcrusier worth around Rs 1.5 crore. The previous record for the priciest registration number was held by KL 08 BL1 registered at the Thrissur RTO in November 2016 by Qatar-based businessman Raleef for Rs 16.15 lakh for a Range Rover Evoque.

Devi Pharma managing director, Balagopal competed with Abdul Karim, W. Renju Kumar and Subhagar Vasudevan for the fancy number. The last round saw Subhagar Vasudevan quoting Rs 10.02 lakh, while Balagopal quoted Rs 12 lakh to seal the deal according to reports. Balagopal himself raised the amount to Rs. 18 lakh, setting the new record. With the base price for bidding Rs 1 lakh added, Balagopal walked away with his choicest registration number for a whopping Rs 19 lakh.

The auction saw many fancy numbers sold for high amounts. The motor vehicle department fetched Rs 24.93 lakh on a single day in the auction of 28 fancy numbers. KL 01 CA9999 was sold for Rs 2.35 lakh and KL 01 CB9 for Rs 1.4 lakh. Previously, the KL 01 CA1 was bagged by NRI businessman Yusuff Ali for Rs 1, 20,000. 

Monday's auction was held were under the supervision of RTO B Muraleekrishnan, RTO (enforcement) P M Shaji, deputy transport commissioner C K Ashokan and assistant transport commissioner K Padmakumar. The procedure was recorded in a video in order to make the proceedings transparent, reports Times of India.

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