Indian businessman Balwinder Sahani has paid a whopping $9 million (33 million Dirhams/INR 60 Crores) for a special, single digit number plate in Dubai. Last Saturday (8/10/2016), Balwinder placed the highest bid for the “D5” number plate at a live auction at the JW Marriot Marquis Hotel in Dubai. More than 300 bidders participated in the auction, with the bid for “D5″starting at 20 million Dirhams.
#Dubai D5 number plate sold to Balwinder Sahani for Dh33 million at car plate auction in #UAE @7DAYSUAE pic.twitter.com/58pNxkL68A
— Shoshana Kedem (@B_shosh) October 8, 2016
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The coveted number plate will be used on one of Balwinder’s many Roll-Royce cars. The businessman, owner a property management company, with interests in the UAE, Kuwait, India and the US, is a collector of special number plates. He already has ten of them in his arsenal, and last year, he bought the “O9” number plate at the same auction for 25 million Dirhams.
You are only few hours away from owning one of #Dubai‘s most exclusive 80 plate numbers.The auction which will take place today at 4:30 pm. pic.twitter.com/VsbbthT3f8
— RTA (@RTA_Dubai) October 8, 2016
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In United Arab Emirates, single/double digit number plates are seen as a status symbol, flaunted by the wealthy on their exotic cars. The proceeds from auctions like these go to Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority. In 2008, businessman Saeed Al Khouri paid 52.2 million Dirhams for the number 1 number plate in Abu Dhabi, a record for the country.