Flashy BMWs For CM and Governor of Poor Manipur

Sinlung says: Seems like Manipur is not that poor enough with its deficit budgets, insurgencies, unfinished projects filling up Manipur Secretariat Office. Manipur still has the power to splurge some of the loot from Delhi and spread it amongst it political class.

By Ajmer Singh

New Delhi, Apr 4 : The BMW X5 has the looks of a James Bond car. Only it is an SUV and one which doesn't spew missiles like 007's sedans do.

That, however, doesn't bring down its price. At approximately Rs 1.2 crore per car, the SUV from the BMW stable is definitely steep for a state like Manipur that has to depend largely on central aid for its functioning.

And Manipur has imported not just one or two, but five cars from Germany. Two are stationed in Delhi to transport chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and governor Gurbachan Jagat when they are in Delhi.

What's surprising is that while chief ministers of states affected by militancy - Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and Chhattisgarh - use indigenously made bulletproof Ambassadors, the impoverished state in India's North East has gone ahead and bought these expensive SUVs.

These days, major Indian automobile manufacturers like Mahindra and Tata too are manufacturing bulletproof SUVs which are being used by the security forces and state police. But the Manipur government only wants the best for its VIPs.

The PM and the Manipur government are not the only ones keen on importing bulletproof cars.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Hindalco Industries, is also importing a bulletproof BMW 760Li sedan. Naveen Jindal, Congress MP and industrialist, recently imported four armored bulletproof vehicles.

The 4,799 cc twin-engine custom-made BMW X cars run on eight cylinders. It was initially imported by the Special Protection Group for the Prime Minister's security.

The customized SUVs are bulletproof and mine-proof and carries an armor plating. The armored steel grey beauties can carry a secured phone line and has an onboard monitor.

And for about every seven kilometers the car travels, it guzzles a liter of petrol.

Interestingly, two of the BMWs can be seen parked at the Manipur House in Delhi so that the two VIPs can use them when they are in the Capital.

Though priced around Rs 1.2 crore, sources said the cost of these cars have been almost halved to around Rs 60 lakh after a duty waiver.

Sources claimed that the threat to the life of the Manipur chief minister and governor is high.

A major disaster was averted last year when a car full of explosives was detected inside the Manipur Raj Bhawan premises.

The governor was present at his residence at that time.

The sturdy BMWs were first inducted into the Prime Minister's motorcade during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee tenure. Initially, only two such cars were purchased.

But with time, the PM's fleet grew from six BMW-7 series sedans to 15 new X-series SUVs.