Karthik was bagged by Mumbai Indians for an undisclosed sum and in exchange all-rounder R Sathish will go to Kings XI.
According to a BCCI insider it was the highest sum paid to buy a player from another team in the history of the IPL.
"It was a substantial sum and easily the highest in terms of strictly trading terms. Mumbai wanted a keeper. Punjab did not mind as they were getting a good amount of money," an unnamed BCCI official was quoted as saying.
It is understood that Mumbai have paid somewhere between $2-2.5 million (Rs 10.59-13.2 crores) for Karthik, the report further said.
The franchises have a limited money to spend during the auctions but there is no cap on spending during trading.
According to IPL rules, 20% of the profit made in a trade goes to the player with the rest going to the franchise selling him.
Karthik had spent the first three IPL seasons at the Delhi Daredevils.
The first window for trading between IPL franchises closes on January 20. There will be another short window for trading after the February 4 auction in which the players of now terminated franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala will be sold.
