Rs675.4m earned from auction of 40 premier number plates: Sharjeel

KARACHI: Sindh Senior Minister for Information, Excise & Taxation Sharjeel Inam Memon has announced that the proceeds from the provincial government’s first-ever auction for premier registration number plates of motor vehicles would be spent on the noble cause of rehabilitating victims of 2022 devastating floods in the province.

He made the announcement while speaking at a ceremony, held at a hotel on Saturday night, to conduct the auction for allotment of premier registration number plates of motor vehicles by the provincial Excise and Taxation Department.

Memon told the audience that proceeds from the auction would be dedicatedly spent on reconstruction of houses for the homeless flood victims in Sindh.

A total of 2,251 houses would be reconstructed for the flood victims from the auction proceeds.

He informed the audience that soon the second phase of the auction of the premier registration plates would be launched.

He said the next phase of the auction would generate extra financial resources for reconstruction of the houses for the flood victims.

He recalled that the auction of one such premier registration number plate in the United Arab Emirates had fetched up to US$14 million.

He said the auction proceeds in the UAE were also spent on charitable causes.

Chief Executive Officer of the Peoples Housing Project Khalid Mahmood Sheikh said obtaining a premier registration plate was an investment similar to investing in gold and other precious metals. He thanked Sindh Senior Minister for conducting the auction.

The Sindh government’s Excise and Taxation Department earned a total revenue of Rs675.4 million from the action of 40 premier number plates in the first phase.

It earned Rs100 million from the auction of premier plate number 1, Rs53 million from the auction of premier number five, Rs46 million from premier number seven, Rs41 million from premier number eight, and Rs40 million earned through the auction of premier plate number nine. Ownership certificates of the premier number plates were given to the successful bidders.