The National Gallery of Modern Art will auction more than 1,200 items gifted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday on September 17. The proceeds from the e-auction will go to the Namami Gange Project, a flagship programme of the Union government, which aims to conserve and rejuvenate the river Ganga by controlling pollution and improving its fragile ecosystem.

The gallery will conduct the auction through the web portal https://pmmementos.gov.in. The auction will conclude on October 2. The items are on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art now.

ALSO READ:

PM Modi unveils Netaji Bose statue at India Gate & inaugurates Kartavya Path

“All these collector’s items will go under the hammer later this month and anyone can bid and acquire these historic gift items,” said Adwaita Gadanayak, director general of the National Gallery of Modern Art, reported ANI.

The wide range of gifts and souvenirs that will be auctioned includes those presented by foreign dignitaries and others to the Prime Minister. The base price of the items starts from Rs 100 and go up to Rs 10 lakh.

The 1,200 items to be auctioned will include replicas and models of the Kashi-Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi and the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, an Amrit Kalash containing the sacred soil of Ayodhya, a statue of Rani Kamlapati gifted by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a trident gifted by Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur, a Hanuman idol and a sun painting gifted by Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, a wall hanging of Lord Venkateshwara gifted by Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy and a statue of goddess Mahalaxmi gifted by NCP leader Ajit Pawar.

ALSO READ: PM Modi to visit Uzbekistan on September 15-16 to attend SCO Summit

Sports memorabilia such as a badminton racket, autographed by the ace player Srikanth Kidambi, will also be up for grabs along with autographed jerseys of wrestling, hockey, lawn bowling, and para-powerlifting players.

This is the fourth edition of the series of successful auctions. The first auction was launched by the Prime Minister’s Office in January 2019.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)