Mumbai may be the country’s financial capital but it is Delhiites who rule virtual reality finance. Of the over 12,000 active users of Second Life, the net-based virtual reality (VR) world, from India, nearly 9,000 are from Delhi. And about 90 per cent of the accounts registered from Delhi are engaged in some serious financial investments.

Under the Second Life programme, people can register using different names as “avatars”, customising their VR appearances and profiles. They can join online communities, VR townships, operate businesses, buy and sell real estate, just like in the real world. The users can even create their own content, like furniture, vehicles and buildings.

More importantly, Linden Labs, the creators of Second Life, has a currency exchange as well, where real world currencies can be exchanged for virtual currency called Linden Dollars and vice versa. At the current exchange rate, one US dollar is equivalent to 270 Linden Dollars.

The number of active Indian “residents” — those who build, trade and invest on the site — has shot up from about 3,300 in the beginning of the year to over 12,000. “We have been informed that the ratio of active residents to registered users is one of the highest in India and China,” said Joe Miller, vice-president, platform and technology, Linden Labs.

One of the more common ways of investing in Second Life is to buy virtual real estate. Then, like in the real world, the user can wait for property prices to escalate, before selling at a profit. The entire transaction is carried out in Linden Dollars, which can be converted into real world currencies on the exchange.

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