The second wave of COVID-19 in India has taken a heavy toll on health care infrastructure. In response, several countries have committed to supply raw materials required for vaccines, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, personal protective equipment kits etc. On April 26, PTI reported that Saudi Arabia is shipping 80 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen to India in cooperation with the Adani group and British multinational Linde.
In the backdrop of this, a 13-second clip of two men installing a Reliance Industries Limited and Reliance Foundation sticker on a tanker has been shared on social media. As per the claim, Reliance is taking credit for the oxygen supplied by Saudi Arabia,
Congress member Vikas Bansal tweeted the video along with the claim. It drew 1,400 views.
ऑक्सीजन साउदी अरब ने भेजा है नाम रिलायंस का सिस्टम कितना अच्छा है हमारा अगर यह सच है शर्म नहीं आती अभी भी
@RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @DeependerSHooda @LambaAlka @sushant_says @NayakRagini @ashokbasoya pic.twitter.com/1PCrrKdOfU— Vikas Bansal (@INCBANSAL) May 1, 2021
Facebook user Alia Aali posted the video and attracted over 1,000 shares.
Several users have posted the video on Facebook.
Fact-check
On May 1, The Hindu reported that petrochemical giant Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has ramped up its production of medical-grade oxygen from ZERO to 1000 MT per day, “constituting more than 11% of the country’s total medical grade liquid oxygen production”.
Nita Ambani, chief of Reliance Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the RIL told The Hindu, “Our plants at our Jamnagar refinery have been repurposed overnight to produce medical-grade liquid oxygen that is being distributed across India.” On April 13, Maharashtra urban development minister Eknath Shinde said that the State is likely to get nearly 100 metric tonnes of oxygen from Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar plant.
Speaking with Alt News, an RIL spokesperson informed, “RIL has organised the airlifting of 24 ISO containers into India from Saudi Arabia, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and Thailand adding 500 MT of new transportation capacity for liquid oxygen. Over the last week, they were delivered at Jamnagar refinery via Ahmedabad or Jamnagar airport.” He added, “In the viral video, the sticker is being applied to one of those containers at the airport before the containers were dispatched at the oxygen plant at Jamnagar.”
The spokesperson shared some images from the airport and oxygen plant where the same stickers are visible.
To conclude, a video clip of oxygen containers organised by RIL and Reliance Foundation has shared the false claim that Reliance is taking credit for supplying oxygen that was supplied by Saudi Arabia.