Amidst the heavy uproar over the newly-passed agriculture bills, an image of a grain silo owned by Adani Agri Logistics is doing rounds on the Internet. A silo is a giant steel structure in which grains can be stored without jute bags for longer durations.
The picture is being circulated across different social media platforms with the claim that the silo, which has a storage capacity of 2 lakh tonnes, was constructed in Punjab's Moga district within days of the passing of the three new agriculture-related legislation by the Narendra Modi government.
The claim
Indirectly accusing the Centre of favouring the Adani Group, netizens shared the image of the massive silo alleging that the newly-built storage structure is proof that the Farm Bill is aimed at empowering companies and not the farmers.
"Earlier, we used to name our farms as Chaudhary Agricultural Farm or Gurjar Agricultural-Farm but now all of those names will be erased and Adani Agri Logistics Limited will be written instead. Wake up farmers!!" wrote one Twitter user while another said, "The bills have been brought to this company by strangling farmers. Now in every village, Adani Agri Logistics Limited will run the farmers. And if farmers will refuse to oblige, they will have to face dire consequences."
Fact-check
International Business Times, India, was able to verify that the Adani Agri Logistics' silo in Moga was not constructed recently, as claimed by a bunch of social media users. A Google search for keywords 'Adani Agri Logistics grain silo in Moga' showed several media reports which confirm that the silo in question has been around for many years.
A 2008 report by the Financial Express states that the Adani Agri Logistics entered an agreement with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in 2005 for setting up two silos, one at Moga in Punjab and the other Kaithal in Haryana. The company invested a massive sum of Rs 650 crore for building the two base-silos, which commenced operations sometime in 2007.
Besides, there is a mention of Adani's Moga-based silo in a 2017 and a 2018 report by Hindustan Times and The Tribune respectively, which proves that it certainly wasn't constructed recently. Furthermore, the 'About Us' section of Adani Agri Logistics official website also says that it authorized the Moga and Kaithal located silos in 2007.
"The company commissioned India's first modern grain storage infrastructure for Food Corporation of India in 2007. It commissioned grain silos in Moga (Punjab) and Kaithal (Haryana) to store grains and established receiving silos in Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Coimbatore, cities connected through Adani's dedicated railway rakes," the description reads.
Therefore, the claim that the Adani Group's silo in Moga was set up after the passing of the Farm Bill is false.
