Fact Check: Ratan Tata did not donate bullet-proof buses to Indian Army
Ratan Tata is an Indian industrialist who turned 86 a few days back. He is known for his philanthropic activities and has been awarded two of India’s highest civilian awards.
Claim :
Ratan Tata provided bulletproof and bomb-proof buses to the Indian ArmyFact :
The image shows a bulletproof bus provided by Midhani to the CRPF
Ratan Tata is an Indian industrialist who turned 86 a few days back. He is known for his philanthropic activities and has been awarded two of India’s highest civilian awards.
An image showing a big bus is shared by social media users virally with the claim that it was donated by Ratan Tata and it is bulletproof and bombproof. The image is shared along with the claim in Hindi: “मशहूर उद्योगपति रतन टाटा ने भा
When translated it claims “Famous industrialist Ratan Tata has provided bulletproof and bombproof buses to the Indian Army!”
Fact Check:
The claim is Misleading. The bus was not presented by Ratan Tata to the Indian Army, it was manufactured by Midhani for the CRPF.
When we searched for the image using Google reverse image search, we found that the image was shared by the X (Twitter) handle of the Central Armed Police Force (CRPF) in September 2017 with the caption ‘Armored Bus and Bhabha Kavach, lightweight BP jacket manufactured under #makeinindia by Midhani handed over to DG CRPF today.
When searched further, we found a similar image shared on the Midhani website.
A post shared by an X handle named Aerodynamics also shared a similar image with the caption ‘Hyderabad-based MIDHANI will be showcasing its Light Bullet Proof Vehicles (LBPVs) and Medium Bullet Proof Vehicles (MBPVs) for troop movement in counter-insurgency operations at DefExpo2020. LBPV Bus protects against 7.62 x 39m MSC and the complete bus.’
X (Twitter) of All India Radio also shared the images of the armored bus presented to the CRPF. The images were shared with the caption “@nsitharaman hands over armored bus, ARGO avenger terrain vehicle to #CentralArmedPolice forces; HM @rajnathsingh also present.”
NDTV also reported the dedication of the bulletproof buses to the CRPF in the presence of the Defence and Home ministers.
Hence, the image shows the bulletproof and bomb-proof bus presented by Midhani to CRPF in September 2017. The claim that Ratan Tata donated a bulletproof and bomb-proof bus to the Indian Army is Misleading.
