Sachin’s T-shirt fetches R 1.11L in auction

Ahmedabad: The auction of gifts received by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has fetched more than Rs2 crore, even as a T -shirt gifted by the master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar to Modi was sold for Rs1.11 lakh, officials said.

The exhibition and auction of 1,399 gifts received by the chief minister was held at Ravishankar Rawal Kala Bhavan from January 27 to 29. The upset value of the gifts was fixed at Rs41.60 lakh, but they fetched Rs2.04 crore.

“The response to the auction was very good, and all gifts put up for auction have been sold. A total of 2,255 bids were received, with some of the items receiving multiple bids. Many individuals had even submitted bids for more than one item,” Ahmedabad district collector, Vijay Nehra, said. A photograph of the chief minister at Mahatma Mandir was auctioned for Rs2.51 lakh, which was the highest of all the gifts. The upset price of the photograph was fixed at Rs41,000.

Sachin Tendulkar has disappointed fans with his poor performance in Australia, but this did not come in the way of his 2003 World Cup final T-shirt, which was gifted to the CM last year, attracting multiple bids. “The T-shirt was auctioned for Rs1,11,111. The bid was made by Vishal Chiripal, director of city-based Chiripal Industries,” said a source. Nehra said that proceeds from the auction would go to Chief Minister's Kanya Kelavani Nidhi and used for education of girl child. He denied reports that businessmen and traders had been pressurised to bid for the gifts. He also said that the gifts have already been handed over to successful bidders.

© Dailybhaskar