INR1,550,000 (US$39,300) For A Phone Number!

Amit Malhotra, the son of a Ludhiana garment manufacturer and property dealer, won the auction organised by Hutch for the mobile number 9780000000. He payed a jaw-dropping INR1,550,000 (US$39,300) for the number.

“What do we say,” chuckled a Hutch employee who didn’t want to be named. “If people have the money, let them buy the moon.”

Amit learned last week that the company was going to release ‘VIP’ numbers and applied for one. Then he was told it planned to auction these numbers. The auction was conducted through a phone-conference . The bidding process began on Tuesday morning and ended on Wednesday evening. In the final round, there were five men battling it out for the big-draw number. The results were released on Thursday evening.

Swamped by questions, the 26-year-old ‘VIP’ said he didn’t just dust his pocket out for the money. “I borrowed money from friends and relatives and will repay them soon,” Amit said.