Dharmanandan Diamonds’ Hitesh Patel wins PM Modi's suit with Rs 4.31-cr bid

SURAT: Feisty bidding and Rs 4.31 crore to spare entitled diamond baron Hitesh Patel to stamp his name on the suit with Narendra Damodardas Modi embroidered into the pinstripes that has attracted global attention, and a lot of political flak, since January 25 when the prime minister wore it to receive US President Barack Obama.

Patel, who won the auction that concluded on Friday after three days of bidding, said he would put his acquisition on display right at the reception of his office. The navy blue bandhgala suit gifted to Modi by NRI businessman Ramesh Bhikhabhai Virani was put under the hammer along with several other gifts received by the prime minister to raise funds for his pet Clean Ganga project.

“We travel to Rishikesh every year and the condition of the Ganga even there causes concern. So when it was declared that the proceeds from this auction would go to clean the Ganga, the directors of our company decided that we participate in the bid,” Patel told ET, adding that it is a matter of immense pride to have acquired the suit that once belonged to Prime Minister Modi.

His father, Lalji Patel, said they had come prepared to take home the suit at any cost. “The suit does not have a price; it is priceless. It is the intention that counts,” said an exultant Lalji Patel after the final bidding. The Patels, who hail from Ugamedhi village in Bhavnagar district, said the choice of Surat for the auction also motivated them to participate. Their 30-year-old company Dharmanandan Diamonds has an annual turnover of Rs 5,000 crore and employs 7,000 workers.

Bids for the suit, which did not have any reserve price, started at Rs 11 lakh and rose to Rs 1.21 crore on the first day of the auction.

The figure did not touch even Rs 2 crore on the second day, but the final day saw a scramble among serious bidders.

The Patels, who did not compete for any other article in the auction, placed the bids thrice, at Rs 2 crore, Rs 3.61 crore and finally atRs 4.31 crore. Bidding continued amid much chaos at Surat Science Centre even after the deadline of 5 pm on the final day, with groups of builders and diamond merchants seeking to outdo each other.

Although the bids crossed the Rs 5 crore mark, district collector Rajendra Kumar declared the Patels the winner since theirs was the last bid in the allotted time. According to the collector, the auction generated a total of Rs 8.33 crore for the Clean Ganga project.

While 47 bids were placed for the suit, the auction saw 1,852 bids in all for 460 items, with replicas of Pashupatinath Temple and Statute of Liberty getting the highest bid after the suit, at Rs 1.11 crore.