Ministry of Culture, Government of India, is organising an e-Auction of gifts and mementos received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Among the many gifts are "sports gear and equipment" presented to the Prime Minister by Tokyo Olympians and Paralympians. The e-auction started on Friday and will go until October 7. The second day of the auction saw some high bidding. Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra's javelin and bronze medal-winner Lovlina Borgohain's gloves have both received bids of Rs 10 crore each. Paralympian Sumit Antil, who won the gold medal in Tokyo with a world record throw, had also gifted his javelin to PM Modi and that has received a bid of Rs 3 crore.
Some of the other memorabilia like PV Sindhu's badminton racquet and bag, a hockey stick signed by the Indian women's team, who had finished a commendable fourth in Tokyo.
The current highest bid for Sindhu's racquet stands at Rs 2,00,20,000 while the bid for the hockey stick is currently at Rs 1,00,00,500.
The base price for Neeraj Chopra's javelin was Rs 1 crore while for the starting price for Lovlina's gloves was Rs 80 lakh.
"Proceeds from the e-Auction shall go to the Namami Gange Mission aimed at conserving and rejuvenating the Ganga," a PIB release said.
Neeraj Chopra made history at the Tokyo Games by becoming the first Indian to win an Olympic gold in athletics. Lovlina Borgohain became first athlete from Assam to win an Olympic medal. Borgohain had clinched bronze medal in women's welterweight (69 kg) boxing competition.
PV Sindhu too made history at the Tokyo Games after winning a bronze in the women's singles event. She became the first Indian woman to win two individual medals at the Olympics.