A whopping ₹46.24 lakh ($53,704) for a car’s number plate? That’s the kind of money an average person would end up paying for an apartment, not for a number plate. So, when the auction for the number KL 7 DG 0007 began at the Kerala Motor Vehicles Department in Ernakulam, the CEO of the retail-focussed company, Litmus7, Venu Gopalakrishnan was in New Zealand looking to buy an Airbus H130 chopper. He didn’t want to miss the opportunity to own this fancy plate for his newly acquired ₹6.6 crore Lamborghini Urus Performante. The instruction his CFO received was crystal clear… “Got to the auction and go to any extent possible, but we should have this number.”

The internet and social media went into a tizzy. The kind of money that could buy you a luxury car spent on just a number plate. Everyone wondered who’s the man who chose to pay so much for his number plate and why?

“Years ago, my interest in the number 7 started when we had an Ambassador car bearing the number 1717… All my phone numbers now end with 7 and my other cars also have 7 as part of their registration numbers,” says Gopalakrishnan whose company name itself has his favourite number – Litmus7, an IT-based retail solution firm with a turnover of over ₹450 crore in Kochi. Does he have any regrets spending such an obscene amount just for a number plate? “Well, when the auction was going on, I had my doubts whether to outbid the last amount that came up… a single digit 7 that matches with the Ernakulam’s own KL7 was too much of a temptation to let go. So, I gave the green signal to my CFO to do what it takes to get this number,’” he says.

He admits that he loves his cars. In addition to his new toy Lamborghini Urus Performante SUV, Gopalakrishnan also has a Lamborghini Huracan Steratto, a Mini Cooper and a Mercedes Benz G-Wagon and another Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Series II is on their way to his garage in the next few days. But his aim now is to take off from the winding roads of Kerala to its blue skies above with the Airbus H130 chopper expected to reach the city in the coming days.

According to Gopalakrishnan, the plan is to launch a jet club in Kochi soon enabling wealthy professionals who are in a hurry to reach their destinations help avoidable delays in transit. “If you are in a hurry and if your option is only to fly commercial, then going through the airport procedures and waiting and delays all can be addressed well if you choose to fly private,” he says. “When you charter a flight, it comes from another city, and you end up paying extra for it. For instance, last time I chartered a flight to Mumbai, the aircraft first had to be sent from Ahmedabad to Kochi and then from Kochi to Mumbai. This can be avoided if the aircraft is readily available in your own city.”

In the coming days, Gopalakrishnan plans to launch the membership-based jet club where the members could buy flying hours by investing in the company and make use of the flying facilities as and when they require. According to him, the costs involved will much cheaper compared to private charters. To facilitate this, Gopalakrishnan plans to acquire more helicopters and Bombardier jets in a phased manner. “After we launch in Kochi, we plan to do the same in Bangalore and Chennai and perhaps in later stages we hope to add long hauls like the Airbus Corporate Jet and Gulfstreams.”

While he’s planning all these, Gopalakrishnan is also has his eyes set on the possible numbers for his Silver Ghost II and G-Wagon as they roll into his collection in the next few days. “I hope to get 7777 for my Silver Ghost and 777 for G-Wagon,” he says. “I hope I will manage to get my favourite numbers once again!”

Any guesses?!