The Government’s assurance that India’s satellite communication framework is fair will carry conviction only when the dates of the pending approvals are made public, said KBS Sidhu, former Special Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, and Founder-Editor of The KBS Chronicle. In an open letter sent today to the Union Minister of Communications, Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, he asked the Ministry to publish the status of every approval still pending for the three licensed satellite operators, with indicative dates.
The request follows a public post on X by Elon Musk, head of SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink, on 7 October: “Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are …”
The post came hours after a Starlink Vice-President told the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi that the company had built 20 gateway sites, kept Indian user data within India and was awaiting final clearances.
On the morning of 8 October, the Press Information Bureau issued a clarification from the Ministry. It described the framework as fair and non-discriminatory, said security assessment was under way for all three licensees, and said all three were at broadly the same regulatory stage. It named neither Mr Musk nor Starlink.
“The clarification answers the charge of favouritism, but not the question of time,” KBS Sidhu said. “An allegation of this kind, made in the week of the India Mobile Congress and at a time when India is courting foreign investment, is embarrassing for the country. Dates on the record answer it far better than a denial that names no one.”
In the letter, KBS Sidhu asks the Ministry to place in the public domain, and update periodically, a status table for each licensee showing:
1. the date the security assessment began and its indicative completion date, without disclosing its contents;
2. the present stage of the spectrum-pricing decision, which awaits inter-ministerial consideration and the Union Cabinet, and the expected date of spectrum assignment;
3. whether any licensee’s foreign direct investment approval is pending, and since when;
4. any other permission still outstanding before commercial service can begin.
KBS Sidhu stated that he fully supports the Government’s insistence on lawful interception, on Indian data staying in India and on the power to suspend a service in a crisis. “Strict conditions are priced in by investors. An open-ended wait is not,” he said. He also pointed to the 11,256 villages without 4G coverage as of May 2026, for which satellite services may be the only practical connection.
Copies of the letter have been endorsed to the Secretary (Telecom), the Union Home Secretary and the Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
Should the information not be forthcoming, KBS Sidhu has said he reserves the right to seek it through an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005, in due course.
For further information:
KBS Sidhu | kbs.sidhu@gmail.com | 7837-001-001
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