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Having a fancy number plate is an aspiration of a lot of people. Brij Mohan, a Chandigarh -resident and owner of Rs 70,000 Activa, has spent a whopping Rs 15.44 lakh to get himself a super VIP ‘0001’ number.
 
Mohan, who runs an advertising agency, bought the fancy number CH01-CJ-0001 in a recent auction held by the Chandigarh Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA).
 
Only recently, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced that the State Government will put ‘0001’ number plates on auction for common people to generate extra revenue for the State.
 
Mohan, talking to the reporters, said that he will reserve the fancy number for his future vehicle which he is planning to buy during Diwali later this year. “Until then, the number plate will be seen on my Activa, but it will be migrated to my new car once it's here in Chandigarh,” he said.
 
According to the official, the Chandigarh Registering and Licensing Authority had put 378 registration numbers on auction and generated Rs 1.5 crore in total as additional revenue. The ‘CH01-CJ-0001’ was put up for auction at a base price of Rs five lakh and was eventually sold at Rs 15.44 lakh.
 
Presently, there are 179 state government vehicles using the 0001 number plate, four of which are owned by Chief Minister Khattar himself. The Chief Minister recently decided to give up 0001 numbers and generate added revenue from the e-auction with bidding starting from Rs five lakh. According to reports, revenue of Rs 18 crore could be earned via e-auctioning of these number plates.