A set of images and videos showing myogenic oxygen containers featuring a logo of Reliance Foundation stuck over what appears to be a part of a flag of Saudi Arabia have gone viral with the false claim that the company is taking credit for the oxygen supplied by the Saudi Arabian government.
India has been devastated by the second of the COVID-19 pandemic with hospitals and patients struggling to get oxygen supply. To combat the oxygen shortage, many Indian petroleum and metalwork companies are using their facilities to produce medical oxygen. However, a shortage of tankers has led to the government and companies sourcing cryogenic oxygen containers from countries like Saudi Arabia, Germany, Singapore, Belgium, Thailand and The Netherlands.
Against this backdrop, a video and image have gопе viral with the caption "Why they are hiding saudi flag with reliance sticker in INDIA" (sic)
The video and images focus on a part of the Saudi Arabian flag being visible behind the stickers of Reliance Foundation.
An archive of the post can be found here.
An archive of the post can be found here.
An archive of the post can be found here.
An archive of the post can be found here.
An archive of the post can be found here.
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Fact Check
Reliance Industries announced that it has begin producing medical oxygen at their petrochemical facilities across India. In a press release, the company stated that it is producing 1000 metric tonnes of oxygen daily adding that they have airlifted 24 cryogenic oxygen containers to increase their supply capacity to 500 metric tonnes.
In its press release, Reliance Foundation thanked Saudi Arabian petrochemical company Aramco, British Petroleum and the Indian Air Force for their help in sourcing and transporting the cryogenic containers.
BOOM reached out to a Reliance Industries spokesperson who refuted the claims made in the viral posts. The spokesperson said that the Reliance Foundation has not accepted any donations of oxygen or oxygen containers from Saudi Arabia.
"We are producing thousands of tons of oxygen but tankers are not available to supply it. So we reached out to our associates world over and got these tankers from Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Thailand and Germany. We have bought these tanks and we own them now," he said.
"When you see tankers on the road, you will see the name of who owns it. Because the cryogenic tankers are highly explosive, the name of who owns it needs to be written on it. The tanker in the video was brought from Saudi Arabia and had the flag on it. Since we bought it and had to put them into service immediately, we put our stickers on them," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson further clarified that the containers were empty when they were airlifted.
"The cryogenic tankers were airlifted from foreign countries and put into use to supply oxygen to all parts of the country. We fill them with oxygen at our Jamnagar facility and supply it all over the country," he said.
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BOOM also got in touch with and Indian Air Force spokesperson who stated that the cryogenic containers being airlifted by the IAF are empty in accordance with its protocols.
The Saudi Arabian government has sent 80 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen to India in partnership with Adani Industries and the shipping company Linde.
BOOM had earlier debunked a similar claim.
