Congress leaders falsely claim Indian Oil Corporation sold to Adani Group under BJP govt

Several social media users have shared images of IndianOil-Adani Gas (IOAG) refuelling station and alluded that the public sector oil and gas company Indian Oil Corporation has been sold to the Adani Group under the BJP regime.

Indian Youth Congress national president Srinivas B V was among the many Congress members who shared the claim. His tweet gained over 2,000 retweets.

मोदी जी:- ये ‘हम’ है
ये हमारे दो का ‘विकास’ है
और हम देश बेच रहे है ! pic.twitter.com/M2AjsTNgQh

— Srinivas B V (@srinivasiyc) February 16, 2021

Other Congress workers who tweeted the viral image include MLA Kunal Rohidas Patil, national convener of Congress social media Saral Patel, Maharashtra Mahila Congress leader Sulochana Wagh, MP Jasbir Singh Gill, national coordinator of Congress social media Gaurav Pandhi and Youth Congress leader Deepak Varthur. Pandhi’s tweet was retweeted by Delhi Congress and Varthur’s tweet was retweeted by activist Kavitha Reddy.

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Similarly, youth wing of Rashtriya Janata Dal tweeted the viral image which was amplified by the Twitter account of Rashtriya Janata Dal that has close to five lakh followers.

Blogger Raju Parulekar also tweeted the image. His tweet gained over 1,000 retweets.

The viral image has been shared by multiple Facebook users. Additionally, the claim has been shared in Bengali and Tamil on Facebook pages ‘শ্রমজীবী – The Labour‘ and ‘Tamil Nationalism – தமிழ் தேசியம்‘. Facebook page ‘मुशाफिर‘ also posted the viral image.

False claim

The website of IndianOil-Adani Gas Pvt. Ltd. states that IOAG is a joint venture private company. The joint venture is between Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) – a Maharatna Company of Government of India – and Adani Gas Ltd. (AGL), a gas distribution company and part of the Adani Group.

Firstpost reported that the two firms had incorporated a 50:50 joint venture company in 2013 for implementation of city gas distribution (CGD) projects across the country. The union government was led by the Congress in 2013 and the BJP came to power only a year later.

Multiple joint ventures are listed on the website of Indian Oil, including IOAG. Under the natural gas section, the website states that city gas distribution projects are being implemented in Chandigarh, Allahabad, Panipat, Ernakulam, Daman, Udhamsingh Nagar and Dharwad through a joint venture with M/s. Adani Gas Ltd. (M/s. IndianOil-Adani Gas Private Limited (IOAGL).

The viral claim was earlier debunked by the fact-check wing of the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

It is being claimed on social media that Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. has been sold to a private entity.#PIBFactCheck: This claim is #Fake. The image exhibited is of IndianOil-Adani Gas Pvt. Ltd. which is a joint venture company of @IndianOilcl and Adani Gas Ltd. pic.twitter.com/CYwp0AdDDd

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) February 17, 2021

Thus, several Congress leaders made the false claim that the Adani Group has taken over Indian Oil. Two months ago Alt News debunked the claim that Indian Railways has been ‘sold’ to Adani. Congress leaders had also shared the false claim the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Airport has been renamed to Adani Airports.