Mid-Day
Mumbai, Jun 19: Fed-up of Mumbai’s pothole-riddled roads, Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani will soon return his Rs 5.6-crore Mercedes Maybach to London. Ambani, who owns the city’s only Maybach, had imported it in 2004. He paid nearly Rs 2 crore in duties and insured it at an annual premium of Rs 23 lac. Gutkha tycoon Rasiklal Dhariwal owns a Maybach in Pune.
Sources in the Regional Transport Office at Tardeo said that Ambani’s men visited the RTO two weeks ago to enquire about the formalities of de-registering the Maybach.
According to RTO rules, any vehicle being transferred to a foreign country must first be de-registered. The process involves cancelling the car’s number from the RTO records.
“A couple of officers from Ambani’s office inquired about the procedure to cancel the registration of the car. They said they would revert, but we haven’t received a formal application yet,” said an RTO official. The Reliance officers reportedly said the Maybach was to be sent back to London, because Mumbai’s roads were taking a heavy toll on the car.
Maybach aficionados in the city who have been keeping tabs on Ambani’s dream car, said the Reliance boss has not used the car for some time now. “The car was last seen in March last year. Since then there has been no sign of it,” said a Maybach fan.
Bad roads
“Bad roads and heavy traffic are the reasons why he has not used his Maybach for a while. He travels in his Mercedes S Class instead,” said a senior Reliance official. Reliance spokesperson Rohit Rao refused to comment issue, desspite several attempts to contact him.
Johny, Johny...
BMC chief Johny Joseph refused to acknowledge that Mumbai’s roads were not good enough for high-end cars. “All major roads are pothole-free. Imported cars can be driven on Mumbai’s roads without any trouble. There are many imported cars on Mumbai’s roads, and their number is increasing every day,” claimed Joseph.
Mukesh’s fleet
- Mercedes Maybach 62
- Black Hyundai Sonata
- Off-white Mercedes S class
- Black Mercedes SL500