Balagopal, proprietor of Devi Pharma, a leading pharmaceuticals distribution company

Balagopal said he was crazy about fancy numbers and didn’t regret spending big.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The owner of Porsche 718 Boxster, worth Rs 1 crore, spending an additional Rs 31 lakh to get a fancy vehicle registration number is nothing unusual. K S Balagopal , a resident of Kowdiar , Thiruvananthapuram, won the registration number ‘KL-01-CK-1’, for his brand-new Miami Blue sports car by paying Rs 30 lakh in the auction held at the regional transport office (RTO), Thiruvananthapuram, on Monday. This is in addition to the Rs 1 lakh he has paid as reservation fees for the fancy number.Balagopal, proprietor of Devi Pharma, a leading pharmaceuticals distribution company, who owns a fleet of luxury cars, has set the new record in auction of fancy vehicle registration number in the state by engaging in a fiery bid against NRI businessman Shine Yousef. Yousef quit after quoting Rs 25,00,500 as Balagopal hiked the next call to Rs 30 lakh. The previous record was also in the name of Balagopal, who won the number KL-01-CB-1 at Rs 19 lakh for his Land Cruiser in 2017.Another bidder R K Anand Ganesh, also an NRI, was in the race in the initial phase but dropped out after quoting Rs 10,50,000. “The new series in vehicle registration number was released when I bought the sports car. So, I decided to reserve the first number for my car. Sensing that other bidders will not withdraw, I quoted a higher amount to win it at any cost. Only when the officials at RTO informed me, I came to know that it was a record,” said Balagopal.On shelling out huge amounts for fancy numbers, Balagopal said he was crazy about fancy numbers and didn’t regret spending big. The businessman has also committed large amounts to flood relief works. “When floods struck, I donated medicines worth Rs 10 lakh to relief camps and hospitals,” Balagopal said.Thiruvananthapuram RTO received Rs 37,31,000 in the auction of 31 fancy vehicle registration numbers in the new series.