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Balapur Laddu fetches record Rs 39L in auction
In Short
Sama Praneeth Reddy of Urban Group makes winning bid this year
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Balapur Laddu fetches record Rs 39L in auction
Hyderabad: The prized Balapur ‘Ganesh Laddu’ went under the hammer for a record Rs 39 lakh this year, with Sama Praneeth Reddy of Urban Group making the highest bid.
The auction of the Balapur Ganesh Laddu was delayed this year because of delay in lifting of the pandal’s Lord Ganapati idol due to a technical problem in the crane requisitioned for the purpose.
During the previous year, the 21-kg Balapur Ganesh Laddu was auctioned for Rs 35 lakh, and it was snapped up by Lingala Dasharath Goud. Goud did not participate in this year’s auction.
This was the 33rd auction of Balapur Ganesh Laddu. The journey of the Balapur Laddu auction, which began in 1994 with a bid of just Rs 450, has seen a new a record being set year after year, reaching Rs 39 lakhs this time. The proceeds from the auction are utilised for Balapur village development initiatives, temple improvements, and other social welfare activities.
There was intense competition during the auction among the bidders while they placed their bids to stake claim over the prized laddu. For, securing the laddu is traditionally believed to bring wealth and good fortune to the successful bidder. While there were nine bidders, five of them registered their company names. The laddu auction started with a base price of Rs 1,016, while the bidders kept raising it to lakhs of rupees, with the winning bid placed by Sama Praneeth Reddy.
The bidders who participated in the auction were: Marri Ravikanth Reddy, K Shalini Veerender Reddy from KVR Flower Marchants from Champapet, Kamcharla Shiva Reddy and Gaddam Naveen Reddy of GVR Developers Hastinapuram, I Pratyush from Balapur village, Sama Dayanand Reddy of The Sushi and Company from London, UK Shrikanth, and Rajanala Nitin Reddy.
After the bid amount increased from the previous year’s Rs 35 lakh, the bidding became even more competitive in which Sama Dayanand Reddy, Shalini Virender Reddy, Gaddam Naveen Reddy and Praneeth Reddy went on increasing the bids and finally, Praneeth Reddy was the one to stake claim on the laddu for 39 lakhs. The auction money was deposited as per the new rule by the Utsav Samithi. Previous year’s price money is initially deposited and later the additional money is paid.
