Fact Check : Guwahati airport name not changed, viral claim is misleading

Guwahati (Vishvas News) ||  A post is viral on social media where it is being claimed that the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport has been renamed as Adani International Airport. Vishvas News found in its investigation that the post is misleading.

What is this viral post?

Facebook user Lalit Gogoi uploaded a photo on August 18 claiming: : লোকপ্ৰিয় গোপীনাথ বৰদলৈ আন্তঃৰাষ্ট্ৰীয় বিমান বন্দৰৰ নামত আদানী গুৱাহাটী ইণ্টাৰনেচনেল এয়াৰপৰ্ট লিমিটেড নামৰ এক নতুন সংস্থা গঠন হল চাগে । তলৰ বিজ্ঞাপনটোৱে কয় । এনেকৈয়ে এদিন ভাৰতৰত্নৰ চিন-মোকাম নোহোৱা হৈ যাব ! English translation is “A new company called Adani Guwahati International Airport Limited has been formed in the name of the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport. The ad below says. This is how one day the Bharatratna will disappear!”

The archive version of Facebook post can be watched here.

On more social media user Dr Joy Prakash Das shared this screenshot of ad clipping with claim “Welcome to Adani Guwahati International Airport !”

Social media users are further sharing these posts thinking that the name of Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport has been changed to Adani Guwahati International Airport.

Investigation
Vishvas news searched with keywords and found that no media outlet covered any news confirming the claim that the name of Guwahati Airport has been changed.

Vishvas News then searched for viral image through the Google Reverse Image Tool. We noticed that this ad was published in a number of newspapers on August 17.

With Keyword search, we found that on August 19, 2020, the Union Cabinet leased three AAI airports — Guwahati, Jaipur, and Thiruvananthapuram — for operation, management, and development to Adani Enterprises for 50 years. But nowhere did we find any news that the name of Guwahati Airport has not been changed.

Further, Vishvas News contacted Rakesh Kumar, Airport Director at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport to know about the advertisement and the viral post. Mr. Kumar told Vishvas News, “The name of the airport has not been changed and there is no such plan. Adani Guwahati International Airport Limited has invited the bid only for some Non-Aeronautical Services of this airport. The viral post is fake.”

Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sharma, also reacted immediately to the fake news saying that the name of Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport has not been changed and no one can change the name of the Airport till he is the Chief Minister of Assam. The Indian Express report in this context can be read below.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2021/aug/18/guwahati-airport-to-remain-named-after-gopinath-bordoloi-himantabiswa-sarma-2346551.html

It should be mentioned, in 2018, the Central government leased out six AAI airports — Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, and Mangaluru — for operation, management, and development under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The Adani group had emerged as the successful bidder for all the six airports.

In the final phase of the investigation, Vishvas News scanned the Facebook account of Lalit Gogoi. The person is a daily newspaper journalist and lives in North Lakhimpur and Guwahati. He has 1770 friends in his account till the time of writing the news.

Conclusion: According to Vishvas News investigation, the post that the popular Gopinath Barad Airport has been renamed as Adani International Airport is fake. In fact, the picture in the viral post is a bid published in the newspaper and has been invited by Adani Guwahati International Airport Limited for various operations at the popular Gopinath Barad international airport.

Tags

• Adani International Airport
• Airport
• Asomiya Pratidin
• Guwahati
• Himanta Biswa Sarma
• Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport