India has rejected a last-minute offer by a US collector to cancel the auction of Gandhi's iconic belongings and vowed to buy the pacifist leader's possessions.

James Otis said he was ready to halt the sale and donate Gandhi's personal items, including his trademark round eyeglasses, in exchange for India's commitment to a substantial rise in its funding for poverty.

However, Anand Sharma, India's junior foreign minister, apparently rejected the proposal on Thursday.  

"The government of India, representing the sovereign people of this republic, cannot enter into such agreements where it involves specific areas of allocation of resources." 

Otis, who planned to sell the items to promote pacifism, said a preliminary deal had been reached hours before the auction was set to start on Thursday in New York.

The collapse of the agreement may now force India to enter the auction.

Gandhi's spectacles, a pair of worn leather sandals, a pocket watch and a brass bowl and plate were to be sold with an estimated starting bid ranging from $20,000 to $30,000.

The final price, however, could be substantially higher.

Opposition 

The auction has raised protests across India, which have forced the government to try to bring the leader's items, considered the country's national heritage, back to his homeland.  

Gandhi's family has also opposed the auction.

Ambika Soni, India's culture minister, said the government would bid for the items and "offer whatever it takes".

"The bottom line is to procure the memorabilia," Soni said.

Mahatma Gandhi led India's peaceful independence movement against British rule and was assassinated in New Delhi in 1948.