Balwinder Sahni reportedly paid 33 million dirhams ($9 million, or Rs59.9 crore) at an auction to buy a Dubai licence plate for one his own Rolls Royce on October 8. Owner of a property management company, Sahani, also purchased another Dubai plate for 1 million dirham ($280,000).
This was not a first for Sahani either, who had purchased the licence plate number O9 last year as well for 25 million dirhams ($7 million), according to local media reports.
#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
According to a Bloomberg report, in Dubai, licence plates with shorter numbers are auctioned as they are considered to be status symbol by the rich and wealthy. The record-breaking amount for a number plate in the country was paid by a businessman Saeed Al Khouri who bid over $140 million (52.2 million dirhams) back in 2008. It was for the licence plate number 1.