Hyderabad: The 21-kg Balapur Ganesh laddu was auctioned for Rs 16.6 lakh in its silver jublee year on Sunday. The successful bidder was Mr Teneti Srinivas Gupta, on behalf of the Arya Vysya Sangh, Balapur. Mr Gupta, a realtor who also has a rice business, is president of the sangh.
The auction took a mere 15 minutes, and fetched Rs 1 lakh more than last year. Mr Gupta said he would have bid till Rs 20 lakh. He will distribute it to everyone he knows.
This laddu was donated to the Balapur Ganesh Utsav committee by Mr Uma Maheswara Rao, a Tapeswaram, AP, sweetmaker. In its first auction in 1994, the Balapur laddu went for Rs 450.
Nizamapet resident Bollineni Vishnuvardhan Rao won the Kukatpally laddu for Rs 6.3 lakh and Mr K. Suvarna Chary the Gowlipura laddu for Rs 2.45 lakh.
The Khairatabad laddu was not auctioned, it will be distributed over the next 10 days.
