Delhi-based Arpita Singh's monumental mural based on Tibetan Buddhist monastic traditions has fetched Rs 9.6 crore, the highest price achieved globally by an Indian woman artist at an auction.

"The Wish Dream" - a 16 panel mural sized 24 ft x 13 ft - executed by Singh in the year 2001 bagged the record price at the modern and contemporary winter auction held from December 8 by Saffronart.

Singh's work trumped India-based Bharti Kher's fibreglass and bindi elephant sculpture "The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own," that had fetched Rs 6.94 crore at the Sotheby's auction last June.

"Throughout the year we have seen a strong demand for works of art of the highest quality and following this sale, a new benchmark has been established in this category," said Dinesh Vazirani, Co-founder and CEO, Saffronart.

Singh, 73, had executed the mural in the year 2001 and had drawn inspiration from a Tibetan play. The artist whose work has been bought by another Indian will not recieve any commission from the auction.

80 per cent of the 100 modern and contemporary Indian works by 45 artists were successfully sold by Saffronart which grossed total of Rs 30 crore. Almost 60 per cent of the lots were sold for prices that exceeded their high estimates with works by K G Subramanyan, F N Souza and Arun Kumar H G exceeding their upper estimates by more than 200 per cent.

Four other lots crossed the Rs 1 crore mark, including F N Souza's "Disintegrated Head" which sold for Rs 1.4 crore. S H Raza's "Oasis" which sold for Rs 1.3 crore, and untitled work by M F Husain which sold for Rs 1.2 crore and Subodh Gupta's "Idol Thief I" which fetched Rs 1.08 crore.