Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV messed up with launch and foundation stone to falsely claim that PM Modi has been re-launching different projects without any groundwork.

In his show, Truth Vs Hype dated March 9, Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV analysed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's last-minute rush of project inaugurations across the country before elections are announced to find out whether these projects are real or only on paper. The episode is available on their website which can be watched here.

In the episode, he claimed that these inaugurations just before election raise questions on the intent of the government. He then went on to claim that they found a number of these projects were older projects which have been re-launched without proper groundwork.

Case 1: Defense Corridor in Jhansi

On Feb 15th, PM Modi laid the foundation stone of Defense Corridor Jhansi but the corridor was already announced by him on Feb 21, 2018. He then went on to say that no work has started and it was just laying the foundation stone. On the screen, there were two images. First one showing launched in 2018 and the second one with the caption "Re-launched in 2019". You can see the screenshot here:

So, according to NDTV, the project was already launched in 2018 which has been re-launched again in 2019.

Fact: PM Modi had announced Rs 20,000 crore defence corridor for Bundelkhand on Feb 21 during UP investor meet. The Prime Minister had also said that it requires policy, planning, performance to bring progress. So, within a year, the budget for the project was released, the land was acquired and the foundation stone was laid.

Now, since PM had just made the announcement, NDTV's claim that it was launched in 2018 is completely false. Even in 2019, foundation stone has been laid and not re-launched or launched.

Case 2: Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Hospital in Varanasi

He then said that PM Modi inaugurated the cancer hospital in Varanasi in Feb 2019 but he had already laid the foundation stone of the very same hospital in Dec 2016. The screen again showed two images with captions "Launched in Dec 2016" and "Re-launched in Feb 2019".

This is very surprising that people at NDTV don't understand the difference between the announcement of the project, laying the foundation stone and the inauguration of the project.

The fact is that in Dec 2016, PM Modi had laid the foundation stone of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya cancer hospital in Varanasi. It wasn't the launch of the hospital as claimed by NDTV. It took two years to build the hospital and in Feb 2019, it was inaugurated by PM. Since it was never launched before, there is no question of re-launch.

Case 3: Weapon Factory in Amethi

He then claimed that the Ordanance Factory in Amethi which was launched by PM Modi on 3rd March 2019, had already been inaugurated in 2007.

Fact: In 2007, the foundation stone was laid for the 41st Ordinance Factory and not launched or inaugurated as claimed by Sreenivasan Jain. This can be confirmed by looking at the journal of the Indian Ordnance Factories Organisation in 2007.

The other claim that the factory was already producing Rifles in 2010 is also false. According to a note from the Defence Ministry, no products have been manufactured from the Ordnance Factory in Amethi and that only the Carbine production was planned there.

Earlier, we had debunked misinformation about Amethi Ordanance Factory when Rahul Gandhi had accused PM Modi of lying. You can read our post here:

Fact Check : Claims of Rahul Gandhi and Modi about the Amethi Ordanance Factory reviewed and verified

Now, it is very unfortunate for reputed journalists like Sreenivasan Jain to not understand the difference between the announcement of the project, laying the foundation stone, and the inauguration of the project.

There are different phases of any project. The first step is to identify what to build and where to build. Once this is done then announcement of the project is made. Then the officials do the planning and acquires the land required for the project. Once the land is acquired and officials are ready to start the project, foundation stone is laid. And at the end when the project is completed and is ready for use when it is inaugurated.

Credit: These errors were highlighted by a Youtube channel and you can watch their video here: