New Delhi: It was the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which made the winning bid of Rs 1.5 crore for Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra's javelin when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's collection of mementos was e-auctioned last year, a BCCI official told PTI on Friday.
Chopra had presented one of his javelins to Modi when the Prime Minister hosted the athletes after the Tokyo Games.
The javelin was part of many items that were presented during the e-auction, the proceeds of which went to 'Namami Gange Programme' which integrates the efforts to clean and protect river Ganga.
The auction was held between September and October in 2021.
"(The) BCCI had made the winning bid for Neeraj's javelin. But we also bid for a couple of other collectibles. It (Namami Gange) is a noble cause and the office-bearers in BCCI felt that as one of the premier sporting bodies in the country, we had a duty towards the nation," a senior BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.
"As an organisation we are proud that we have a sporting good of one of India's greatest athletes," the official said.
The BCCI had also contributed Rs 51 crore to PM Cares fund during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
Apart from Chopra's javelin, the BCCI also bought an angavastra, autographed by the Indian Paralympic contingent for Rs 1 crore.
While Chopra's javelin that was bought by the BCCI fetched the highest bid value, fencer Bhavani Devi's sword fetched Rs 1.25 crore while Paralympic champion javelin thrower Sumit Antil's javelin was bought for Rs 1.002 crore by other bidders.
Lovlina Borgohain's boxing gloves were bought for Rs 91 lakh.
One thousand three hundred and forty eight mementos, including sports collectibles, were put for the e-auction and a total of 8,600 bids were received.
Recently, Chopra had donated the javelin he used to win the Olympic gold in Tokyo to the Lausanne-based Olympic museum. It was confirmed by the official Twitter handle for the Games.
