Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suit on display at the auction.
The bidding price for the country's most famous suit has shot up to nearly Rs 1.5 crore. A diamond merchant, Mukesh Patel, has outbid everyone so far in the race to own Prime Minister Narendra Modi's navy suit with his name woven into it in pin-stripes.
"It's a diamond and I know its value," said Mr Patel, who had earlier offered Rs 1.39 crore for the suit, but has raised it to Rs 1.48 crore. He had faced raids by the Income Tax Department earlier, but says that has nothing to do with his bid. "I am not dealing with black money. I am buying the suit with white money," he told NDTV.
Gujarat-based industrialist Komalkant Sharma has made the second best offer - 1.41 crore. He too was subject to raids by the Income Tax Department, three years ago, but he claims it was the result of a technical error and that he has been cleared.
The PM's
bandhgala suit, worn during last month's meeting in Delhi with President Barack Obama, is among 450 items that are being auctioned in Surat in his home state of Gujarat. The money will be used for the PM's project to clean the Ganga.
Rajesh Maheshwari, a nursery school teacher in Surat, offered Rs 1.25 crore this morning. He said he represents "Global Friends of Modi", a consortium of admirers of the PM scattered across the globe.
"It is impossible for a middle class man to bid for such a suit. After this event was reported in the media, our friends discussed it and planned to make a bid. We decided to take contributions of Rs. 50,000 each from a group of 250 people and collect this amount," said Mr Maheshwari to NDTV.
The crowd-sourced bid is a good investment, said Mr Maheshwari. "People spend Rs. 10 crore on a wedding. Imagine how proud a groom will be to wear the suit worn by India's Prime Minister on a historic occasion. We can also charge Rs. 1,000 for a selfie with the suit and donate that money for children's education."
Not just bidders, the suit, on display at the Science Centre at Surat, is also drawing others. 13-year-old Aayushi Prajapati, who clicked many selfies with the suit in the background, says she left school early and skipped lunch to catch a glimpse of the suit. "The money is going for a good cause and my friends told me I must go and see it for myself," she told NDTV.
The three-day auction ends today.
The opposition has said the suit, embroidered over and over with the letters of the PM's name, exposes his narcissism.