E-auction of PM’s mementos: Neeraj Chopra’s javelin receives highest bid of Rs 1.5 cr

The third round of e-auction of gifts and mementos presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded on Thursday evening with Olympian Neeraj Chopra’s javelin being the top favourite in terms of the highest bid value at Rs 1.5 crore followed by the the autographed fence of Bhavani Devi at Rs 1.25 crore.

The 1,348 mementos put up for e-auction included sports memorabilia of the participants of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; models of Ayodhya Ram Mandir; and Varanasi’s Rudraksh auditorium. More than 8,600 bids were received for the items, says a statement by the Ministry of Culture.

The auction started on September 17 on the web portal http://www.pmmementos.gov.in. The proceeds go to the Namami Gange Mission.The final e-auction amount is expected to be much higher than the last two rounds. At the last such auction held in September 2019, as many as 2,770 objects went under the hammer.

Three such auctions have been organised by the Ministry of Culture since Modi became Prime Minister in 2014.