Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX, has accused “certain oligarchs” of blocking Starlink’s entry into India, and then named Reliance’s Ambani, asking on X whether he is “the real boss of India.” The government has rejected the bias claim, saying all licensed satellite players are going through the same security compliance process before launch.
“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 … This is a crime against the people of India!,” said Musk in a post on X.
The Indian government rejected the allegations in a statementsaying it has “put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunications services, including satellite communication services.”
However, Musk followed his allegations with another post on Xdirectly naming Ambani. “Starlink is licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India, so why still no license? Is Ambani the real boss of India?”
It is not clear whether he is referring to Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries or his son Akash Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited. Reliance Industries is a massive Indian conglomerate with interests in several industries, including telecom, retail and energy, among others.
The allegations come at a time when Starlink, along with other foreign players OneWeb Eutelsat and SES, awaits final clearances to launch commercial services in India. Starlink first started accepting pre-orders in 2021 without securing the required licenses or approvals.
Following a government intervention, Starlink pursued the necessary permissions and received its Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) authorization in June 2025. The authorization has not, however, translated into a commercial launch. Eutelsat OneWeb, backed by India’s Bharti group, and Reliance Jio’s satellite communications business, has also received its GMPCS licenses.
In a clarification, the Indian government said that GMPCS licenses are “required to demonstrate compliance with security conditions. This is aimed at ensuring that services provided meet various security requirements to ensure safety of all users and their data.” It further says that this process is currently underway for all three licensees.
Musk’s frustration stems from Jio’s ambition to build a sovereign Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation for the country. Any delay in the launch of Starlink’s services in India could give Jio and other satellite players more time to establish their positions in the market. However, the Government maintains that security assessments apply to all three licensed operators. Interestingly, Jio has an agreement with Musk’s SpaceX to sell Starlink broadband services in India.
Starlink and Indian service providers, including Jio, have differed in the past as well. In response to TRAI’s consultation paper, Jio argued that spectrum for satellite services should be auctioned since satellite players would be offering services similar to terrestrial players, while Starlink was in favor of administrative allocation of spectrum.
Source: www.lightreading.com
