Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has questioned the delay in granting final approvals for Starlink to begin commercial operations in India, alleging that the satellite internet company has spent five years complying with the country’s laws and regulations.
Musk’s latest remarks came after he accused unnamed “oligarchs” of attempting to block Starlink’s entry into the Indian market to protect established telecom interests. Although he did not name any company or individual in his initial allegations, he later directly questioned whether Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani was the “real boss of India”.
The comment was posted on X within hours of the government rejecting allegations that Starlink’s satellite communication services were being deliberately blocked. The government maintained that compliance with security requirements was mandatory for all satellite communication service providers.
Musk was responding to a post arguing that Starlink could improve internet connectivity in remote parts of India where building conventional telecom infrastructure is difficult or expensive.
Starlink has secured a licence to provide satellite communication services in India but is still awaiting security-related clearances and other approvals required before launching commercial services.
The government has described claims of discriminatory treatment against Starlink as “baseless and misconceived”.
Earlier, Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said the matter was pending with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and was not specific to Starlink.
“The Department of Telecom has issued licences to all satcom companies as well as provisional spectrum. Now the issue is pending with MHA for security clearance. As soon as it is cleared, they will get it. It has nothing to do with one company,” Pemmasani told reporters on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress.
Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, whose group backs satellite operator OneWeb, also said his satellite venture was awaiting regulatory approvals.
The controversy took a political turn when Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi responded to Musk’s remarks on X.
“Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy,” Gandhi wrote.
Musk replied, “Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling.”
The exchange has brought renewed attention to the regulatory hurdles facing satellite internet providers seeking to expand their services in India, as the government maintains that security clearances remain a necessary condition for commercial operations.
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