While some people are posting the picture of a hoarding on social media and claiming that the name of the Ahmedabad Airport (‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’) has been renamed as ‘Adani Airport’, others are posting a video of a train and claiming that it shows ‘Adani Railways’. Let’s fact-check the claims made in the posts.
Ahmedabad Airport got renamed as ‘Adani Airport’?
Claim 1: Ahmedabad’s ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’ has been renamed as ‘Adani Airport’.
Fact: The Ahmedabad Airport (‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’) has not been renamed as ‘Adani Airport’. The operations, management & development of Ahmedabad Airport have been handed over to the Adani Group by the AAI. While exiting the Airport, one can see ‘Welcome to Ahmedabad’ (with ‘Adani Airports’ written on the sides) on the hoarding. On the same hoarding, from the other side, one can see ‘Welcome to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’ (with ‘Adani Airports’ written on the sides) when one is entering the Airport. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched on the internet, we found that the Ahmedabad Airport (‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’) has not been renamed as ‘Adani Airport’. The ‘Airports Authority of India (AAI)’ has made an agreement with the Adani Group with respect to the operations, management & development of the Ahmedabad Airport. The press release can be found on the AAI website.
The tweets made by the AAI regarding the above agreement can be seen here and here.
Also, on the website and Twitter account of Ahmedabad Airport, it can be seen that the name of the Airport is written as ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’. In a tweet made by the ‘Adani Group’, they have also mentioned the same (‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’).
The photo being shared on social media is related to Ahmedabad Airport. But a Twitter user has mentioned that while exiting the Airport, one can see ‘Welcome to Ahmedabad’ (with ‘Adani Airports’ written on the sides) on the hoarding. On the same hoarding, from the other side, one can see ‘Welcome to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’ (with ‘Adani Airports’ written on the sides) when one is entering the Airport. Recently, ‘TV9 Gujarati’ has also uploaded a video mentioning the same.
The operations, management & development of Lucknow Airport have also been handed over to the Adani Group by the AAI. Even on the hoarding related to the Lucknow Airport, one can see ‘Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Lucknow’ (with ‘Adani Airports’ written on the sides). So, the Ahmedabad Airport (‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’) has not been renamed as ‘Adani Airport’.
Claim 2: Video of ‘Adani Railways’ train.
Fact: The train in the video is not owned by the Adani Group. It is an ‘Indian Railways’ train. Only the advertisement on the train is related to the Adani Group. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
In the video, one can see that ‘पश्चिम रेलवे, वडोदरा’ (‘Western Railway, Vadodara’) is written on the train. So, when we searched with a few keywords, a tweet by the ‘Western Railway’ related to the train in the video was found in the search results. In the tweet, it was mentioned – ‘WR has got the branding of its 10 Electric Locomotives done at Electric Loco Shed, Vadodara, fetching revenue of Rs. 1.05 Cr besides saving Rs 8 lakhs on painting.’ The news articles regarding those trains can be read here, here, and here. So, the train in the video is not owned by the Adani Group. It is an ‘Indian Railways’ train. Only the advertisement on the train is related to the Adani Group. The ‘Press Information Bureau (PIB)’ has also clarified the same.
Not only the Adani Group, but multiple companies also display their advertisements on the ‘Indian Railways’ trains. Some of them can be seen here, here, and here. The ‘Indian Railways’ gets revenue under the ‘Non-Fare Revenue’ for displaying commercial advertisements. The messages related to COVID-19 were also displayed on the trains. The comments made by the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, in July 2020, on the privatization of trains can be watched here.
To sum it up, neither the Ahmedabad Airport has been renamed as ‘Adani Airport’ nor the train in the video is owned by the Adani Group.
