The fourth edition of the Union Culture Ministry’s e-auction of gifts given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi began on Saturday, his birthday.
Among the items that received the most bids was a metal ‘shankh’ that had received 31 bids as of 6.30 p.m., taking the price from a base of ₹.8,600 to 4.27,400. A lifetime membership card of the National Cadets Corps Alumni Association given to Mr. Modi by the NCC in 2021 was also among the most bid upon items, with 15 bids taking it from a base price of ₹1,100 to ₹3,600.
The auction began at 10 a.m., with 1,222 items up for grabs through pmmementos.gov.in. The auction would be on till October 2 and the proceeds would go towards the Namami Gange project.
As of 6.30 p.m., some of the featured mementos, including sports equipment signed by the Commonwealth and Paralympic Games athletes and a model of Subhas Chandra Bose’s statue placed at the India Gate recently (all with the base price of ₹5 lakh), had not received any bids. However, during the last auction in 2021, the javelin used by Olympic gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra went for ₹1.50 crore.
Union Ministers G. Kishan Reddy, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Mos External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi visit an exhibition of mementos presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI
