Jaipur millionaire splurges lakhs of rupees on fancy number plates - Hindustan Times
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Jaipur millionaire splurges lakhs of rupees on fancy number plates

Hindustan Times, Jaipur | By
May 16, 2018 09:12 PM IST

All his cars have ‘0001’ in the registration plates. But it is not only cars where 37-year-old Rrahul Tanejaa’s fetish manifests itself.

A rags-to-riches millionaire’s fetish for the digit 1 has led him splurge lakhs of rupees on fancy number plates for his luxury cars over the years.

Tanejaa who runs an event management company, spent <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>16 lakh for a winning bid for a fancy number for his new luxury car: RJ 45 CG 0001.(HT Photo)
Tanejaa who runs an event management company, spent 16 lakh for a winning bid for a fancy number for his new luxury car: RJ 45 CG 0001.(HT Photo)

All his cars have ‘0001’ in the registration plates. But it is not only cars where 37-year-old Rrahul Tanejaa’s fetish manifests itself. Even his mobile phone number has five 1s.

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On Tuesday, Tanejaa who runs an event management company, spent 16 lakh for a winning bid for a fancy number for his new luxury car: RJ 45 CG 0001. Transport department officials said this was the highest anyone ever bid for a premium number.

He bought the Jaguar for 1.5 crore on March 25 and waited for a month and a half to get the special number ending with 0001.

Tanejaa bought his first luxury car - a BMW 5 series in 2011 - and paid 10.31 lakh for a premium number plate of RJ 14 CP 0001. His next car was a second-hand Skoda Laura which he bought just because it had the number 1 (RJ 20 CB 0001) on the registration plate. Later, he sold the BMW 5 series car but retained the registration number for another BMW 7 series car.

His fetish for number 1 is not a new development.

“Even in 1996 when I bought a second hand scooter, I made sure its number added up to 1,” says Tanejaa. “The scooter’s number was RJ 14 23M 2323. 2+3+2+3 is 10, which in single digit comes to 1,” he explains.

“My life has been full of struggle – now when I have money, I want to enjoy it,” says the man who left home when he was 11.

His father ran a tyre repair shop in a village in Madhya Pradesh and shifted to Jaipur in 1984. For seven years, Tanejaa did odd jobs for a living and to fund his studies. As a student at Adarsh Vidya Mandir, Adarsh Nagar, he was topper of the class.

Until he was 18, he claims he sold different things at different times: kites during Makar Sankranti, rakhis during Raksha Bandhan, colours during Holi and crackers during Diwali. He even sold leather jackets from footpaths. He also claims that he drove an auto-rickshaw at night – from 9pm to midnight – because there was less chance of getting caught by police as he didn’t have a driving license.

At 18, on a neighbour’s suggestions, he tried his hand at modelling. He won title after title and began earning big money. “I was Mr Jaipur, Mr Rajasthan and Male of the Year,” he says.

Tanejaa’s event management company organizes premium weddings. He now has money and loves to flaunt it.

“I believe in being number one in whatever I do. I want my event management company to be number one in the country,” he said, explaining his fascination for the digit 1.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    P Srinivasan is Principal Correspondent and working with Hindustan Times since 2001. He writes on health, agriculture and development.

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