Fabricated Screenshot Shared as ‘Nilekani Investing in Crypto Trading Platform'

Nilekani had issued a clarification on his Twitter handle and termed the viral claim as "fake news".

(Editor's Note: This fact-check was first published on 19 April 2023 and is being republished in light of the false claim resurfacing on social media.)

A screenshot along with the link of a purported article by The Indian Express is being shared with users claiming that Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is investing about Rs 892 million in a trading platform.

A similar screenshot had gone viral claiming that former Chairman of Wipro Azim Premji had invested about Rs 892 million in a trading platform.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

What is the truth?: The screenshot is fabricated, and no such article was found on The Indian Express' website. Nilekani had also refuted claims of him investing in a crypto trading project on his Twitter handle in February 2022.

What led us to the truth?: On clicking on the link in the viral claim, we were redirected to a different article published on the media organisation's website.

• Its headline said, "Billionaire tech pioneer Nandan Nilekani takes on Amazon, Walmart in India."

• The article mentioned how Nilekani is helping the Indian government build an open technology network which aims to level the playing field for small merchants.

• The project would be competing with e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Flipkart in India.

• The government intended to create its own e-commerce ecosystem.

• On performing a keyword search, we did not find any article about Nilekani investing in crypto trading platform published on The Indian Express.

Nilekani denies on Twitter: Nilekani took to Twitter on 15 February 2022 and clarified that he had not launched a crypto project. He termed the viral claim as "misleading/false information".

You may have encountered a post on various social media platforms claiming that I have launched a crypto project. This is #fakenews! Please avoid clicking on it and report it as misleading/false information on the platform where you see it.

— Nandan Nilekani (@NandanNilekani) February 15, 2022

Nilekani on cryptocurrency: In December 2021, he said that crypto assets "are worth considering and can be used to bring about more financial inclusion" while attending the Reuters Next Conference.

• However, it should be noted that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that virtual digital assets including cryptocurrencies will be taxed at 30 percent in the 2022 Union Budget.

Conclusion: The claim about Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani investing about Rs 892 million in a trading platform is false.

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