further adds there has been a steady growth in the demand for indian works of art both among resident and nonresident indians and among collectors internationally fiona this when the londonbased auction house had already clarified that the armour was not a relic of the sikh guru the auction witnessed frenzied bidding with some reports saying that representatives of vijay mallya the bangalorebased liquor baroncumrajya sabha mp had also bid for the stylish period piece but in the end an anonymous bidder on telephone swung the sale for a whopping 17 million or rs 133 crore the antiquities and art treasures act 1972 is expansive about cultural objects going out of the country but largely silent on items coming in says dr amin jaffer international director of asian art christies the londonbased fine art auctioneers in recent years steady economic growth in india and among indian communities globally has meant that indian art collectors are more readily able to acquire works of art whether antiquities or contemporary pieceshe without this genuine collaboration the problem cannot be tackled let alone india emerging as a true knowledge and cultural centre he saysavijitghoshtimesgroupcom roughly 48 lakh artifacts are registered in india stonework even centuryold indian photographs have been lapped up for record prices poonacha points out that the asi is only interested in educating private collectors not obtaining cultural objects from them k p poonacha director antiquity and museum asi says we are looking to amend the antiquities and art treasures act 1972 when a marble bust of maharaja duleep singh the last sikh king went under the hammer last year it also fetched an eyepopping price of rs 133 crore thats the bright side there is no pressure to acquire the objects the astronomical price fetched by the elegant dagger appeared to be in tune with the sentiments of the season the rising profile of indian antiquities however has also raised an important question does india possess the right laws infrastructure and environment to ensure that the practice flourishes and garners a larger social basesome felt indians were being too emotional earlier this month when an 18th century body armour that some sikhs believe belonged to guru gobind singh created a controversy both home and abroad forcing sothebys to withdraw the item from auction again in 2004 mallya had ensured that tipu sultans sword came back to its place of origin trend started some time ago changes could happen in the future reports said a ukbased sikh businessman was the highest bidder neville tuli chairman osians the art auction house lists some problems faced by the indian collector ambiguous legislation and its abuse black economy a lack of awareness knowledge and respect for ones cultural heritage political interference without passion care or knowledge and a nonexistent atmosphere to pursue the hobby this is an infrastructurebuilding task which requires many forces coming together simultaneously creating the right conditions for an environment change he says the ford of lapada an association of professional art