NEW DELHI: The government will auction over 2,700 gifts received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from September 14 until October 3 and contribute the proceeds for the conservation and rejuvenation of Ganga, Union culture minister Prahlad Patel said.

Inaugurating the display of the gifts at the National Gallery of Modern Art on Wednesday, Patel said 2,772 gifts, including headgears, shawls, portraits, swords gifted by different organisations and chief ministers, will be up for auction on the government’s e-auction portal.

This is the second time this year that the gifts received by PM Modi will go under the hammer. In February this year, NGMA had organised a similar fortnight-long in-store and e-auction of mementoes received by PM Modi.

This time, the auction will be entirely online and will be of gifts received by the PM in the last six months. “The minimum reserved price for the items is Rs 200 while the highest is Rs 2.5 lakh,” Patel said. At a base price of Rs 2.5 lakh, a portrait of Modi done on silkhas been tagged as the most expensive item. The base or reserved price of the items have been fixed by experts.

The minister said that the items up for auction which are being displayed at NGMA will be changed every 15 days.

