No, Indian Oil Corporation Has Not Been Sold To Adani Group

A picture showing an Indian Oil-Adani Gas fuel station is viral on social media with false captions claiming that the the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government has sold the public sector oil and gas company Indian Oil Corporation Ltd to Adani Group of Industries.

BOOM found that the viral claim is false and that Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private Limited (IOAGPL) is a joint venture company of Indian Oil Corporation and Adani Gas Ltd incorporated in 2013. Also, IOAGPL supplies piped natural gas to cities and not petrol or diesel as mentioned in the viral claim.

"This is a 50-50 joint venture started in 2013. We are regulated by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board. Currently we operate in 19 geographical areas consist of 34 districts and 3 UTs (union territories)," a spokesman for Adani Gas Ltd told BOOM.

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The image of the fuelling station is viral in the backdrop of soaring fuel prices in India. While petrol prices had touched Rs 89 per litre in Delhi on Wednesday, the fuel was sold for Rs 96 a litre in Mumbai.

A caption with the image translates to 'Blind followers, see Indian Oil has been sold out'.

(Hindi: Andhbhakt dekh lo Indian oil bik Gaya)

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The image has also been tweeted by national convener of Congress party's social media department Saral Patel with a Hindi caption insinuating that Indian Oil has been sold to Adani Group of Companies.

Patel's tweet reads 'This is us. This is our country. And the country is being sold every day'.

(Hindi: Ye hum hai. Ye humara desh hai. Aur yahan har din desh ki bikri ho rahi hai.

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The claim is viral on Facebook and Twitter.

Fact Check

Indian Oil-Adani Gas Pvt Ltd or IOAGPL is a joint venture formed to supply natural gas through a network of underground pipelines across the country.

The About Us section of IOAGPL states that it is a 'joint venture company of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) – a Maharatna Company of Government of India and Adani Gas Ltd. (AGL), a leading city gas distribution company and part of Adani Group'.

The company says its mission is to develop natural gas distribution networks in various Indian cities to provide natural gas to customers in industrial, commercial, domestic and transport sectors.

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Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) has entered into joint ventures with several other private parties. The list of JV partner companies on IOCL's official website lists Adani Gas Ltd.

BOOM also found that the Indian Oil-Adani Gas Pvt Ltd joint venture was incorporated on October 4, 2013.

The company's balance sheet of March 2019-20 corroborates the same.

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