Mementos gifted to PM Modi go under the hammer

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Day one of the auction of the gifts received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with a base price of Rs 1,000 getting sold at Rs 22,000, according to a statement from the culture ministry.

The funds raised through the auction, held at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Delhi, will go to the government's flagship project 'Namami Gange'.

A dedicated site -- pmmementos.gov.in -- has been set up to display and e-auction the mementos that are priced between Rs 100 and Rs 30,000. Visitors to the site can search through the mementos on the basis of price range.

NGMA did not reveal the amount raised on day one or which was the item that received the highest bidding, which they said will be revealed on Monday, after a final assessment has been made.

The two-day physical auction shall culminate on January 28 and the e-auction will take place from January 29-31 for remaining items which are not sold during the physical auction on the portal.

Exclusive items that were auctioned included statues, photographs, paintings and articles such as angavastram, shawls, commemorative coins, traditional musical instruments, hats, pagris and jackets, etc.

Items such as statues of Gautam Buddha, portraits, photographs and paintings of Prime Minister, 3D painting of Gomukh (the origin of the holy river Ganga), Statue of Mahatma Basveshwara, Statue of Swami Vivekananda and silver coated Shivlinga were also auctioned at a high price.

Union Minister for Railways and Commerce Piyush Goyal, Members of Parliament Manoj Tiwari and Meenakshi Lekhi visited the auction along with other dignitaries and senior officials from the Government of India.

The only gold-plated memento on auction is an idol of Radha and Krishna, the base price for which has been set at Rs 20,000. The 4.76 kg idol was gifted to the prime minister by the Mandvi Nagar Palika in Surat.

A 2.22-kg silver plate, gifted to the prime minister by former BJP MP C Narasimhan, priced at Rs 30,000, is the most expensive memento in the catalogue with a blue brocade shawl with tassels being the least expensive at Rs 200.

Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma earlier said that 1,900 gifts received nationally and internationally will be auctioned.