India's PM Modi auctions signature suit to help clean Ganges

Prime Minster Nanedra Modi's pinstripe suit emblazoned with his name will be auctioned for charity.

The money raised in the auction, which includes some 361 items gifted to the PM, will be used to clean up polluted sections of the River Ganges, AP reported.

Modi wore the suit during a meeting with US President Barack Obama in January, prompting hundreds of netizens to share pictures of the suit.

Some, including opposition leaders, criticised the PM for having spent so much money to have his name hand-woven all over the jacket and trousers.

A designer, who preferred not to be identified, said: "The name on the suit was not embroidered but hand-woven. It requires a special jacquard technique."

It is estimated that the suit cost about $16,000 (£10,427).

However, in an interview with Asian news International (ANI), Rameshkumar Bhikabhai Virani, the man who gifted the suit to Modi, denied that it had costed so much money.

He said:" I am from Gujarat. I presented this suit to him [Modi] when I attended the recent Vibrant Gujarat Summit. I gave it while extending an invitation to him to attend my son's wedding on January 26."

"I gave this gift to on behalf of my son [who] had this idea of making this monogrammed suit. He said he wanted to give a surprise to Modiji."

Referring to the cost of the suit, he said: "People can say anything. I can confirm that what is being said about its cost is not the correct amount. My son does not have the guts to spend that kind of money or that amount."

The money collected from auctioning the suit and "hundreds of other gifts received by the prime minister" would be used to clean up the heavily polluted Ganges River, AP reported.

The auction is expected to take place on Wednesday 18 February.

NDTV reported that one businessman has already bid £123,000 for the suit.