Gifts to PM to go under the hammer this week

NEW DELHI: As many as 2,772 gifts Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received during his visits across India will go under the hammer online from September 14 and the proceeds of the sale will go to the Centre’s Namami Gange project for the conservation of the Ganga.

Union culture minister Prahlad Patel said the auction will be conducted completely online this time around. The first such auction was held in January this year.

“The gifts that will go under hammer have been received over the last six months. The minimum reserved price for the items is ₹200 while the highest ₹2.5 lakh,” the minister told reporters.

The auction will be open to the public on www.pmmementos.gov.in. Simultaneously, an exhibition of the items will be held at New Delhi’s National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) between September 14 and October 3.

Officials said a painting Varanasi traders gifted to Modi will be among the items auctioned with a base price of ₹2.5 lakh.

Among the other items are 576 shawls, 964 angavastrams (stoles), 88 pagris (turbans) as well as several mementos, swords, jackets and traditional musical instruments.

National Gallery of Modern Art director general Adwaita Gadanayak said the first such auction was successful.

“In the first phase, there was a great rush during the auction. People felt that if by taking a piece of Modi’s journey into their lives, they are contributing to a great cause, it was worth the spending,” said Gadanayak.

In the first round of the auctions of 1,800 items, held between January 27 and 28 at the NGMA, and then online for a month, a handcrafted wooden bike was sold for ₹5 lakh.