It started with a quote of Rs 51 lakh and, finally prime minister Narendra Modi's suit with his name woven into it in gold pinstripes has been lapped for Rs. 4.31 crore.

On the final day of auction in Surat, diamond merchant Hitesh Patel of Dharmanandan Diamonds became the owner the suit that has generated so much scrutiny and controversy. Hitesh’s initial offer was of Rs. 3.61 crore and even this amount was far more than figures quoted by other bidders.

On Thursday, another diamond merchant, Mukesh Patel offered Rs. 1.48 crore for the suit. Gujarat-based industrialist Komalkant Sharma bid for Rs. 1.41 crore.

An interesting bid was made by a school teacher. Rajesh Maheshwari, a nursery school teacher in Surat, offered Rs. 1.25 crore raised by a group of 250 people who contributed Rs. 50,000 each.
 
The suit worn by Modi during US president Barack Obama's visit last month was mocked by opposition parties. The suit was being auctioned along with 450 other gifts Modi received as the prime minister. The bids closed this evening and the money will be used for the clean river Ganga project.

Hitesh Patel told a news agency that “We will keep the suit in our office as a reminder of the noble cause we took part in.”


Who bid for the suit:
 

• Mukesh Patel, builder from Surat and Sanjay Movliya, diamond trader, together bid at Rs 2.65 crore.

• Vipul Shah, Mumbai based diamond trader bids for Rs 2.51 crore.

• Surat’s Mukesh Patel  made a bid of Rs 2.31 crore.

• Rajesh Jain, owner of an engineering firm in Haryana, made another bid of Rs 2.9 crore.

• Dharmanandan Diamonds Pvt. Ltd made a bid of Rs 2.8 crore.

• NRI businessman Chandresh Ojha make a bid at Rs 1.95 crore.

• Rajesh Jain, owner of an engineering firm in Haryana, made a bid of 1.85 crore.

• Surat-based businessmen ​Lavji Badshah and Jayanti Aklara ​made a bid for Rs 1.81 crore.

• Lavji Patel, a diamond merchant from Surat made a bid of Rs 1.71 crore.

• Surat’s Rajesh Jain bids for  Rs 1.65 crore.