Buy a Rs 2163 car policy and get to meet Warren Buffet

MUMBAI: Indian investors wanting to hear Warren Buffett no longer need to fly 8,218 miles across the Atlantic. They can just dole out $48 for car insurance to secure an invite to meet the “Oracle of Omaha” in New Delhi. Billionaire investor Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, will meet customers of berkshireinsurance .com on March 25 during his first visit to India, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company said on Monday in an e-mailed statement.

“It’s a great experience,” said NGN Puranik, MD at Enam Securities in Mumbai, who spent more than $4,000 to attend Berkshire’s 2007 annual meeting in Omaha. “If people are getting an opportunity to meet him by buying a policy, they should definitely do it.” The New Delhi event may give Indian investors a chance to hear Buffett’s home-spun wisdom of financial success that’s turned the company’s annual meeting into a must-visit event, with 40,000 attending last year. Buffett also will seek to recruit affluent business leaders to his charity projects in a nation that’s home to Asia’s richest billionaires.

Berkshire started selling insurance to Indian consumers via the internet portal and on phone this month after forging an agreement with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, Berkshire said March 2. Berkshire, whose insurance units include car-coverage specialist Geico and re-insurer General Re, initially will focus on the auto sector in the south Asian nation. Buffett will meet policyholders at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi from 6 pm to 8 pm on March 25, according to Berkshire’s website.

New policies purchased through berkshireinsurance.com will qualify for an invite, Kara Raiguel, a director of Berkshire India, said in an e-mail. The price to insure a Maruti Suzuki India 800 built in 1996 would cost Rs 2,163 ($48), according to the website. “I’ve always wanted to attend one of Buffett’s meetings,” said Monish Shah, a 27-year-old investor based in Mumbai. “If I can buy a car policy for a future date, I will definitely get one, just to meet him.”