Nearly 1,500 PM mementos up for e-auction
Nearly 1,500 souvenirs received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including a silver memento of Lord Ram, gold-plated Radha Krishna artwork, models of frontline warships INS Surat and INS Nilgiri and a few sports memorabilia, will be part of the eighth PM Mementos e-auction beginning September 17. Addressing a press conference at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) here, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the e-auction will run till October 31.
A set of mementos and gifts, presented to Modi in different parts of the country, will also be on display at the NGMA. These include models of the Navy’s stealth frigate INS Nilgiri and missile destroyer INS Surat, which were commissioned in the presence of Modi on January 15 last year.
According to labels attached to the two models, they were presented to Modi by the Navy chief during their commissioning. Shekhawat said that 1,498 objects are part of the e-auction this year, which will go live on Thursday, coinciding with the prime minister’s 76th birthday.
The eighth edition also features 50 “identified hero objects”, including a silver memento of Lord Ram from Karnataka with a base price of Rs 13.50 lakh, a silver replica of Kakatiya Kala Thoranam with a base price of Rs 9 lakh, a framed tree of life Gond art painting with a base price of Rs 7.5 lakh, Lord Jagannath Parivar on chariot with a base price of Rs 6 lakh, and a gold-plated framed Radha Krishna artwork, with a base price of Rs 5.40 lakh, according a note shared by the culture ministry.
The PM Mementos e-auction celebrates India’s heritage, art, craftsmanship and cultural diversity, while enabling public participation and contributing towards a significant national cause through the Namami Gange Programme, the ministry said.
Shekhawat said more than 7,400 objects were auctioned during the first seven editions, fetching Rs 52 crore.
In a written response to a query in Lok Sabha in August, Shekhawat had said that the Union Government received Rs 1.89 crore through the 2025 edition of the e-auction, while the corresponding figure for the sixth edition in 2024 was Rs 2.24 crore.
On the eve of the eighth edition offering 1,498 mementos, Shekhawat said the collection represents the country’s artistic and spiritual traditions, traditional craftsmanship, cultural practices and sporting achievements.
Among the larger representations are objects having provenance in states such as West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar and Odisha, the note said.
