Air and water cannot be auctioned, says BJP

After the Supreme Court order on auctions, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Thursday that the party was also of the opinion that all natural resources, like air and water, cannot be auctioned.

Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, reacting to the apex court order, said: "We also think that all natural resources cannot be auctioned... air and water cannot be auctioned."

The Supreme Court, while answering a presidential reference seeking its opinion on whether auction was the only method for allocating natural resources across the board, Thursday said the auction route was not the only method for allocating natural resources.

A five-judge apex court bench headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia said auction could be a better option where the aim is maximisation of revenue, but then "every method other than auction of natural resources cannot be shut down".

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had "deliberately delayed the auctioning of coal blocks for eight years".u00a0