A number plate pricier than the car itself: Chandigarh’s CH01-DD-0001 shatters records with ₹53.88 lakh bid

In Chandigarh, car lovers do not just chase luxury vehicles. Sometimes, the real trophy is the number plate. On Friday, former Chandigarh mayor and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Davesh Moudgil stunned everyone by paying ₹53.88 lakh for the VIP registration number CH01-DD-0001 during an e-auction conducted by the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA).

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The number will go on his Toyota Fortuner Legender, a premium SUV that itself costs around ₹50 lakh. In other words, the number plate alone costs more than the car.

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For Moudgil, however, the purchase was not about money. It was about passion. As he put it simply: “You can’t put a price on passion.”

Record-breaking bid in Chandigarh

The winning bid for CH01-DD-0001 has now become the highest price ever paid for a vehicle registration number in Chandigarh since fancy numbers began being auctioned in 2002.

The reserve price for the number was only ₹50,000, but intense competition among bidders pushed the final price to ₹53.88 lakh.

It was clear that the number 0001 was the ultimate prize in the new CH01-DD series.

City’s love affair with fancy numbers

Chandigarh has long history of obsession with stylish registration numbers. Every auction organised by the RLA attracts huge attention from car owners eager to grab a unique identity for their vehicles.

On average, the authority earns around ₹12 crore every year through these auctions.

Typically, each auction brings in nearly ₹3 crore.

But the latest bidding round broke expectations.

Three-day auction brings record revenue

The recent e-auction ran from March 4 to March 6, allowing participants to bid digitally through an online system.

During the three-day process, 591 registration numbers underwent auction. Numbers 0001 to 9999 from the new series were offered. Unsold special numbers from earlier series were also included

By the end of the auction, the RLA collected ₹4.48 crore, making it the highest revenue ever generated in a single auction by the authority.

Officials said the strong response once again proved how popular the system has become among vehicle owners.

Other fancy numbers that triggered big bids

While 0001 grabbed the spotlight, several other numbers also fetched impressive amounts.

Some of the most expensive bids included:

The man behind the winning bid

Moudgil is no stranger to public life in Chandigarh.

He served as Chandigarh mayor in 2018 and currently works as an advocate at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. A member of the BJP for nearly 30 years, he has also held positions such as deputy mayor and senior deputy mayor in the city administration.

Interestingly, this is not his first brush with fancy numbers. He says many of his vehicles already carry special registration plates.

His choices, he admits, are sometimes on influence of astrological advice.