PANAJI
He may not be political currency now but the official vehicle he used before he assumed office first as minister and then Chief Minister has fetched a good value for the government even after the vehicle was 'condemned'.
Former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar's official car -- the Mahindra XUV 500 with the GA-11-G-0645 registration number -- was picked up for Rs 3.20 lakh at the auction held at the GRP camp grounds in Altinho on Thursday.
The vehicle was auctioned without its battery and GWMC sources said its air-conditioning system was also dysfunctional.
Yet, Nilesh Desai pressed the pedal and won the bidding process with his final bid of Rs 3.2 lakh, which was more than twice the upset price of Rs 1.2 lakh and took the vehicle home.
It was the third edition of the 'Vehicle Scrap Mela' of the State government organised under the aegis of the Finance Department by the Goa Waste Management Corporation to resourcefully dispose the end-of-life government vehicles.
The event which had 170 vehicles from various government departments and autonomous bodies up for sale through an auction process evoked an enthusiastic response, both from registered scrap dealers and members of the public.
Of these 170, as many as 128 vehicles were over 15 years old, falling under the purview of the vehicle scrappage policy, which were exclusively open for bidding only to registered vehicle scrapping facilities (RVSFs).
The balance 42 vehicles, including the Parsekar-used Mahindra XUV-500, were under 15 years old and attracted massive interest from the general public.
The auction attracted 135 bidders and it ended with Rs 1.07 crore added to the government kitty.
