Painting of PM Modi and Mahatma Gandhi fetches highest bid of Rs 25 lakh

All proceeds from the e-auction will be donated towards funding the NamamiGange Mission, the statement said.

The auction — organised by the Union Culture Ministry — began from September 14 and was to conclude on October 3, but due to an overwhelming response from bidders the last date was pushed to October 24.

A framed photograph of the PM receiving blessings from his mother, with a base price of Rs 1,000, has received a bid of Rs 20 lakh. Among other popular auctioned items, an exhibit of Manipuri Folk Arts, which had an original base price of Rs 50,000, was sold for a bid of Rs 10 lakh.

As many as 2,772 items gifted to PM Modi as mementos were put up for sale. The items were kept in the National Gallery of Modern Art Museum in New Delhi before they were put up for auctioning.

The mementos include paintings, sculptures, shawls, jackets and traditional musical instruments.