New Delhi: Mahatma Gandhi's belongings including a pair of his iconic glasses were auctioned in New York where they were bought by India's liquor and airline baron Vijay Mallya.

He bought them for 1.8 million dollars which is about Rs 9 crore.

India's Union Minister for Culture, Ambika Soni who had earlier said that the Indian government would do all it could to get Gandhi's items back where they belonged in India, addressed the press earlier on Friday, saying that the government had, with the help of Vijay Mallya managed to secure Bapu's legacy.

However, she expressed that it was impossible to have an inventory on Gandhi's belongings.

Ambika Soni also put forth that Gandhi had made Navjivan Trust the sole heir to his belongings.

",We had been trying to stop the auction,", she said, adding that all bidders were involved in getting the items back in India.