A post is being shared on social media claiming that the Mukesh Ambani family is planning to set up a solar power plant in Ayodhya. This post claims that the Reliance solar power project in Ayodhya will provide an uninterrupted power supply to Ram Mandir free of charge. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Ambani family is establishing a solar power plant in Ayodhya to provide uninterrupted power supply to Ram Mandir.
Fact: The Reliance Group of Industries did not make any such public statement about setting up a solar power plant in Ayodhya. As part of the Yogi Adityanath government’s plan to develop Ayodhya as an eco-friendly city, the state government had conducted a survey and compiled the requirements of setting up solar power plants in the city. As per a few media reports, this scheme is completely a government project. The Ram Janmabhoomi trust officials denied these rumours of solar power plant donation from the Ambani family. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether the Ambani family had made any such announcement of donating a solar power plant in Ayodhya, we could not find any such news on the internet. The Reliance Group of Industries did not make any such announcement on their ‘official’ website. Also, the Ram Mandir Trust did not inform of any such donation of a solar power plant from the Ambani family. If Mukesh Ambani or any of his family members had announced such a donation for Ayodhya Ram Mandir, several news websites including the Ram Mandir Trust website would have published this information including reports by media.
On searching for further details related to the claim made in the post, we found a ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ news article published on 17 July 2021. This article reported that the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh was planning to develop Ayodhya as an eco-friendly and solar city. As part of this initiative, the state government had reportedly conducted a survey to analyse different parameters required to ensure solar energy supply not only for domestic use but also for commercial purposes in Ayodhya. In the survey, the officials made a report on the capacity to meet the needs of the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation area, what are the domestic, commercial, and industrial requirements, how much is the availability of sunlight, the availability of land for setting up solar plants among other things. According to the article, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is directly monitoring this solar power project. Reporting the same, several news websites published articles in 2021. They can be seen here and here. But it is nowhere reported that the solar project would be funded by Mukesh Ambani or his family.
The ‘Vishvas News’ fact-checking organization contacted Dr. Anil Mishra, a member of the Ram Mandir Trust member for clarification. Anil Mishra said, “Ambani family is not setting up any solar plant in the Ram temple. This claim is wrong”. Reliance communication had also confirmed to Vishwas News that no such statement was made by the company. Also, a Dainik Bhaskar bureau chief informed ‘Vishvas News’ that the solar project that would be implemented in Ayodhya was completely a Government project.
To sum it up, the Ambani family did not make any announcement of setting up a solar power plant in Ayodhya.
