Centre refutes Musk’s claim of oligarchs delaying Starlink launch in India

New Delhi: The Centre has rejected SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s allegation that unnamed business interests are delaying the launch of Starlink’s satellite internet service in India to protect their dominance in the telecom market.

The Telecom Ministry said on Thursday that India’s satellite communication regulations are applied uniformly to all companies. It said every licensed operator must complete mandatory security assessments before beginning commercial services and dismissed claims of an unfair or discriminatory regulatory process.

Musk had alleged on Wednesday that certain powerful business groups were preventing Starlink from entering India to preserve their control over the market. Although he did not identify them, his comments were widely interpreted as a reference to Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, whose Jio Satcom is competing in the satellite broadband sector.

Starlink, Jio Satcom and Eutelsat OneWeb have all secured licences to provide satellite communication services in India. However, none can begin operations until security clearance and spectrum assignment requirements are completed.

The ministry said security assessments for all three licensees are currently in progress and that the companies are broadly at the same stage of the regulatory process. Spectrum can be assigned only after the required security procedures are completed.

Musk has also promoted Starlink as a way to provide faster and more affordable internet access, particularly to people in areas underserved by existing networks. Reliance Jio, which entered the Indian telecom market about a decade ago, has been credited with significantly lowering mobile data prices.

Starlink received its Indian licence in 2025. SpaceX announced partnerships with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in March that year to facilitate distribution of Starlink services, but commercial operations have yet to begin.

Earlier reports said regulatory concerns over the use of Starlink terminals in India had contributed to delays, though SpaceX rejected those concerns.

Jio Platforms announced plans in June to launch low-Earth-orbit satellite services, while Akash Ambani said the company was working with global satellite operators to lease capacity.

At the India Mobile Congress, SpaceX executive Lauren Dreyer said Starlink operates about 11,000 satellites serving customers in more than 170 countries and has been working for years to bring the service to remote parts of India.