Kolkata: Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra’s javelin fetched the highest price of Rs 1.5 crore in the third round of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s e-auction of outstanding gifts and mementos.
The third round of the e-auction featured a total of 1,348 mementos. Among the highlights were medal-winning Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Game and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Game participants’ sports memorabilia, as well as models of Ayodhya Ram Mandir, Varanasi’s Rudraksh auditorium.
Over 8,600 bids were made for the listed goods, with the greatest bids in terms of bid value compared to the base price going to a decorative mace, a replica of the Statue of Unity, a Charkha, and a bell.
The sculpture of Sardar Patel garnered the most bids, with 140 bids, followed by a wooden Ganesha with 117 bids, a remembrance of the Pune metro line with 104 bids, and a memento of the Victory flame with 98 bids.
The top bidders at the e-auction were Neeraj Chopra’s javelin (Rs 1.5 crore), an autographed fence of Bhavani Devi (Rs 1.25 crore), Sumit Antil’s javelin (Rs 1.002 crore), an angavastra autographed by the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic contingent (Rs 1 crore), and Lovlina Borgohain’s Boxing gloves (Rs 1 crore) (Rs 91 lakh).
The e-auctions took place from September 17 to October 7, 2021, via the website www.pmmementos.gov.in. The auction revenues will benefit the Namami Gange Mission, which strives to conserve and revitalize the Ganga River.
