Thane farmer buys helicopter worth Rs. 30 crore to sell milk

Thane:  On Monday, when a blue-coloured helicopter landed in a cloud of dust in an open ground in Vadpe village near Bhiwandi in Maharashtra, virtually the entire village ran out to gawk at it and welcome its owner Janardhar Bhoir.
Bhoir, 55, a down-to-earth farmer-cum-builder-cum-entrepreneur, but with high-flying ambitions, has invested in a chopper to help manage his businesses spread across several cities and states in western and northwest India.
“I belong to farming family. A few years ago, I entered the realty business constructing huge warehouses which are in great demand in this region, and later diversified into the dairy business also,” Bhoir told IANS, as his mobile phone kept ringing incessantly.
A veritable frequent flyer, almost every week he flies to places in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and occasionally to other major cities, but rued that he wasted a lot of time in road traffic, at airports and getting convenient connections to smaller places that are off the air-map.
“A pilot friend of mine suggested I could consider acquiring a helicopter for my extensive domestic travels which could be economical and even profitable in the long run. Somehow, the idea clicked and a few months ago, I started enquiring for a helicopter suited to my needs,” he said.
After exploring all options, the qualified lawyer – who served as the unanimously-elected Sarpanch of Vadpe village for 25 years – finally settled for a Bell-407 7-seater helicopter costing around Rs 30 crore, with 90 per cent finance by a local bank.