Recently, a video from a Guwahati High Court is going viral on social media in which Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi reacted with revulsion to Assam government’s decision of allotting 3000 bighas of tribal land to a private cement company. At the start of the video, an advocate mentions that Mahabal Cement Company has been allotted 3000 bighas of tribal land. On hearing this, justice Medhi visibly shocked, asks, “The entire district? 3,000 bighas allotted to a private company?” Upbraiding the Assam government decision, he further remarks, “Is this some kind of joke?”
After this video went viral, the congress official handle on X linked the video to the Gautam Adani and claimed that the land was being allotted to the Adani group.
The congress reproching the Adani group and the Assam government wrote, “Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma handed over 3,000 bigha (81 million sqft) of tribal land to Adani for a cement factory. A High Court judge expressed shock, questioning the rationality of the decision and stating, “Is this a joke? You are giving a whole district. Your need is not the issue, public interest is the issue. The BJP government’s actions scream of blatant crony capitalism, as they shamelessly hand over the country’s resources to Modi’s mitra Adani, while the poor are left to struggle. This isn’t governance for the people; it’s governance for mitra Adani. It’s time to hold them accountable for their actions and demand a government that truly serves the people.” (archived link)
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma handed over 3,000 bigha (81 million sqft) of tribal land to Adani for a cement factory.
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 18, 2025
A High Court judge expressed shock, questioning the rationality of the decision and stating, "Is this a joke? You are giving a whole district. Your need is not… pic.twitter.com/vFNGE0QzkA
Supriya Shrinate asserted, “Assam’s corrupt CM Himanta gave Adani 3,000 bigha (81 million sqft) land for cement factory. Even the High Court Judge was shocked – here’s what he asked & said ‘Is this a joke? You are giving a whole district. Your need is not the issue, public interest is the issue.” (archived link)
Assam’s corrupt CM Himanta gave Adani 3,000 bigha (81 million sqft) land for cement factory.
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) August 18, 2025
Even the High Court Judge was shocked – here’s what he asked & said👇
“Is this a joke?”
“You are giving a whole district”
“Your need is not the issue, public interest is the issue” pic.twitter.com/gUdmX8nXJ2
Congress supporter Tarun Gautam claimed, “Himanta is literally bulldozing muslim colonies in the name of illegal encroachment but has 3000 bighas to give to Adani. Even the judge is shocked.” (archived link)
Lavanya Ballal Jain stated, “Guwahati High Court Judge Sanjay Kumar Medhi expressed disbelief over the Assam BJP government’s allocation of 3,000 bighas (81 million sq ft) of tribal land in Dima Hasao to the Adani Group for a cement factory, reportedly asking, “Is this a joke? Are you giving an entire district?” The BJP government is of the Adani’s ,for the Adani’s by the Adani’s.” (archived link)
Guwahati High Court Judge Sanjay Kumar Medhi expressed disbelief over the Assam BJP government’s allocation of 3,000 bighas (81 million sq ft) of tribal land in Dima Hasao to the Adani Group for a cement factory, reportedly asking, “Is this a joke? Are you giving an entire… pic.twitter.com/d4ipF0PYzg
— Lavanya Ballal Jain official (@LavanyaBallal) August 18, 2025
The claim was also shared by other handles like Alok Sharma (archived link), Vinay Kumar Dakonia (archived link), Taj India (archived link), News Trajectory (archived link), Amoxicillin (archived link), Ankit Mayank (archived link), Pragnya Gupta (archived link), Dalit Dastak (archived link), and The Observer Post (archived link).
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Fact Check
In our fact check report, we searched the keywords and found a report by The Indian Express. In this report, we found that 3000 bighas of land in the tribal Dima Hasao district of Assam is being allotted to a private cement company named Mahabal Cement Private Limited, which is registered in Kolkata, to set up a cement factory. The report further states that last year in 2024, this company was allotted a plot of land of 2000 bighas. Dima Hasao is a tribal dominated hill district of Assam and in November of the same year, it was allotted another plot of land of 1,000 bighas, making a total of 3000 bighas.
The allotment was authorized by the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC), under the state government’s Revenue department. The Additional Secretary while issuing the order stated that the land was being allotted to set up a cement plant.
In the report, we further found that the court was hearing two petitions related to land allotment: one petition was filed by local villagers alleging eviction from the land, and the other petition was filed by Mahabal Cement Private Ltd. seeking protection from disturbances caused by local villagers during construction work.
The land allotment is followed by an MoU signed between the Mahabal cement and Assam government for an investment of ₹11,000 crore during the Advantage Assam 2.0 investment summit in February this year. In accordance with this MoU, Mahabal cement is committed to setting up a cement plant in Dima Hasao district.
During the hearing on August 12, 2025, the High Court questioned the scale of the allotment and asked the Assam government whether the decision was taken as per the proper policy. Since Dima Hasao falls under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, the court cited the interests of the tribals and demanded the government to provide the legal and policy framework under which such colossal land is being allotted to the cement company.
The Live Law report notes that the Guwahati High Court has incisively raised the concerns about the Assam government’s decision to allot approximately 3,000 bighas of land in the Dima Hasao district to Mahabal Cement Pvt. Ltd.
We also came across a document of the Guwahati High Court judgment related the land allotment issue. The case number is WP(C)/467/2025, titled Sonesh Hojai & 21 Ors. vs. The State of Assam & Ors. The petitioners involves the 22 residents of Longkukro and Choto Larpheng villages, Umrangso, Dima Hasao district, Assam and the respondents are State of Assam, represented by Secretary to the Government of Assam, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, NCHAC, and Mahabal Cement Pvt. Ltd. In this judgement report, we did not find any reference to Adani.
Next, we searched for the connection between Mahabal and the Adani Group. But we did not find any link between the two companies. Instead, we found that on the website of JK Lakshmi Cement, which lists its subsidiaries, Mahabal Cement Private Limited is included. Notably, according to a March 2025 report by Trade Brains, JK Lakshmi, which has Mahabal Cement as it’s subsidiary, is competing with Ambuja Cement, owned by the Adani Group. The report provides an in-depth analysis of JK Lakshmi Cement’s (JKLC) position in the Indian cement industry and its strategies to compete with industry giants like the Adani Group and Birla Corporation.
Additionally, we located an official disclosure letter from JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd. addressed to the BSE Ltd. and the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., dated 9th February 2024. The letter states that the under Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the Board of Directors have approved the acquisition of 85% equity shareholding of Agrani Cement Pvt. Ltd. which includes Trivikram Cement Pvt. Ltd., Mahabal Cement Pvt. Ltd., and Avichal Cement Pvt. Ltd.
Lastly, Adani group has released a media statement on August 18, 2025, explicitly calling the media reports claiming that the Assam government has allotted 3000 bighas of land, as misleading, false and baseless. The statement has further asserted that the Linking the Adani name to Mahabal Cement is mischievous. Mahabal Cement is not related to, owned by or connected with the Adani Group in any manner whatsoever.
In conclusion, the claim that the Assam government allocated 3,000 bighas of tribal land to the Adani Group is false. The land was actually allotted to Mahabal Cement, a subsidiary of JK Lakshmi Cement, which has no connection to the Adani Group. Furthermore, the Adani Group has issued a media statement dismissing reports linking it to the Mahabal Cement case as misleading and baseless.
| Claim | The Assam government allocated 3,000 bighas of tribal land to the Adani. |
| Claimed by | Congress, Supriya Shrinate, Alok Sharma, Lavanya Ballal Jain, and others |
| Fact Check | Assam’s land allotment was to Mahabal Cement, not the Adani Group. Viral reports linking Adani are baseless and incorrect. |
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