y, director of Nature Morte Gallery in Delhi, which sold almost all its works at the Basel fair, says the increase in price is directly related to the demand for the works and the increased attention that the international art world is paying to contemporary art works coming out of India today.

"This increased attention increases the demand and hence the prices go up," Nagy told IANS.

Citing Basel as an example, Nagy said the "audience in Switzerland wanted unique Indian works and were not interested in works and prints by Indian artists. However, the prices of the works were dictated by the prices set in India".

Another factor that determines the price tag is the stiff neck-on-neck bids, especially at auctions, and the wide client base. The competition among bidders triggers an artificial increase in prices.

The phenomenon is also gradually becoming applicable to Indian art, especially in international sales.

Describing the nature of the Christie's London auction of Asian art, Mehta said the auction hall was packed right from the beginning with clients from across the globe.

"There was also spirited bidding on telephones and through Christie's LIVE, which is a new platform for our clients to watch the live auction in real time and bid online from the comfort of home or office," Mehta said.

According to an estimate by the Christie's, the market for Indian art gathered steam over the last decade, totalling an impressive $42 million in 2006 from just $656,000 in a sale in 2000.

Before that, price milestones were generally one-time. In 2005, Tyeb Mehta's "Mahisasura" sold for a record $1,584,000.