It's raining Mercedes in Aurangabad

Luxury on wheels

Well, the feat has been achieved by a group of individuals in Aurangabad, a city in the backward Marathwada region of Central Maharashtra. Better known as a tourist destination for the world famous Ajanta-Ellora caves and Daulatabad fort, Aurangabad has seen rapid industrialisation in past two decades, with the arrival of Bajaj factory, Videocon and Skoda cars.

But chiefly, for outsiders, Aurangabad is still synonymous with backwardness and communal tensions. And to shed that image, industrialists, lawyers, doctors and even mediapersons came together to form an informal “Aurangabad Group.” It was led by Rahul Dhoot of Videocon and Rishi Darda of Lokmat Media Group.

“Aurangabad has everything; it is an economic powerhouse, but investors are still scared of coming here due to its perceived negative image, which we have decided to change forever,” said Sachin Mulay, President of the Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture. Last week, a proposal to buy the Mercedes cars for the members of that group was mooted, and the initial number of 15 soon swelled to 115.

The group sent a 7-member team led by Mulay to the company outlet in Pune to negotiate the price, and the German car maker too was happy to do the bidding, considering such a single largest bulk booking in one go. The price has been finalised and the luxury cars will be delivered to buyers in Aurangabad before Diwali this year, said a Mercedes dealer in Pune.

The Mercedes is currently available in five different models and the prices range from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 95 lakh. Aurangabad currently has 15 Mercedes, of which 11 belong to the Mulay family alone, while four belong to four other families. Curiously, the current Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, and his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh are from the region.