New Delhi: A video of a train with ‘Fortune Chakki Fresh Atta’ advertisements has been doing the rounds on Facebook and Twitter since Saturday, with claims that the Adani Group has taken over Indian Railways.
The short minute-long video shows a train with posters of ‘Fortune Chakki Fresh Atta’ and ‘Adani Wilmar’ stuck on it. Adani Wilmar sells a whole range of FMCG products under the Fortune brand.
A Facebook user shared the video with the caption “Adani Airports… Adani Ports… Adani Power… Adani Coal India… Adani Railways.” This post has 350 shares.
The post infers that the railways has been sold to Adanis but this is a hoax. Though several such users have shared the video with the caption ‘Adani Railways’ since then. Like here and here.
Similar posts have cropped up on Twitter. One user shared the video with the caption “Railways’ Prime Properties will be sold to the Private Sector!”
Railways' Prime Properties will be sold to the Private Sector!????? pic.twitter.com/R1AjmWNGmM
— Shenaz30 (@iraniShenaz1958) December 11, 2020
Advertisements on locomotives is commonplace
On Twitter, Gujarat Congress working President Hardik Patel shared the video with the tweet, “भारतीय रेल पर अदानी के फ़्रेश आटे का विज्ञापन देखने लायक़ हैं। अब तो दावे के साथ कह सकते है की किसानों की लड़ाई सत्य के मार्ग पर हैं. (Adani’s fresh flour flour advertisements are worth a watch on the Indian Railways. Now we can say with conviction that the farmers’ fight is on the path of truth.)”
The tweet has around 4,000 retweets, over 14 thousand likes and over 1.6 lakh video views.
भारतीय रेल पर अदानी के फ़्रेश आटे का विज्ञापन देखने लायक़ हैं। अब तो दावे के साथ कह सकते है की किसानों की लड़ाई सत्य के मार्ग पर हैं। pic.twitter.com/WB97kaG6Fe
— Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) December 12, 2020
Several users have posted the video with the same caption, linking it to the credibility of the farmer’s protests.
भारतीय रेल पर अदानी के फ़्रेश आटे का विज्ञापन देखने लायक़ हैं। अब तो दावे के साथ कह सकते है की किसानों की लड़ाई सत्य के मार्ग पर हैं। pic.twitter.com/yAqrq3Yvuk
— Daya Shankar Sharma (@DayaSha53222292) December 12, 2020
भारतीय रेल पर अदानी के फ़्रेश आटे का विज्ञापन देखने लायक़ हैं। अब तो दावे के साथ कह सकते है की किसानों की लड़ाई सत्य के मार्ग पर हैं pic.twitter.com/7Fcl5zUGKp
— Babanoormohammad (@Babanoormohamm1) December 12, 2020
भारतीय रेल पर अदानी के फ़्रेश आटे का विज्ञापन देखने लायक़ हैं। अब तो दावे के साथ कह सकते है की किसानों की लड़ाई सत्य के मार्ग पर हैं। pic.twitter.com/7LjagyzGas
— ਸੰਦੀਪ ਸਿੰਘ ?? (@Sandeep64644132) December 12, 2020
The post has been shared on another public group on Facebook as well, called ‘दिल्ली में तो केजरीवाल’, which has 270.4k members. The post has the caption, “kishan bill sarkar vapas kyon legi? jabki iski tayyari pahlese ho chuki he adani ke chakki aata ki ad indian railway ke engine pe lag chuki he. (Why would the government take back the farm bills? The preparation for this is already underway, advertisement for Adani’s chakki atta is on railway engines.)
Advertisements on Indian Railways, however, is common. In fact, according to reports, Indian Railways earns big revenue from locomotive branding.
According to a Financial Express report published in March 2020, the Vadodara division under the Western Railway zone has awarded as many as 37 locomotives until March under NFR (Non Fare Revenue) stream, generating a revenue of Rs 73.26 lakh per annum and an amount of Rs 4.4 crore in five years.
In February this year, a total of five additional WAP 7 locomotives were allotted to Adani Wilmar on a pro-rata basis. The first locomotive engine with Fortune branding was flagged off at Vadodara railways station in February.
The Nagpur division under the Central Railway zone had allocated the branding of five locomotives through an open tender to Haldiram’s too. So the locomotives now display the illustrations of Haldiram’s popular sweets and snacks such as rasgulla, gulab jamun, bhujia, etc.
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Soon this Modi govt will sell it to adanis and ambanis.