Elon Musk has escalated his public campaign to bring Starlink to India, mocking billionaire Mukesh Ambani as the country’s “prime minister” and accusing him of using influence to block the satellite internet service from competing.
In a post on X on Friday, Musk addressed Ambani directly, writing: “Dear Prime Minister Ambani, please accept my humble apologies for not realising that you are the real boss of India.” He accused the Reliance Industries chairman of seeking to preserve a monopoly and asked whether Starlink would be allowed to compete. The remarks followed an earlier post in which Musk asked whether Ambani was “the real boss of India”, questioning why Starlink still lacked clearance after what he described as years of compliance with Indian requirements. He offered no evidence for the claims, according to reports.
Government pushes back
India’s government rejected the accusations. Telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporters on Friday that “India does not allow a monopoly in any sector”, pushing back against the suggestion that Ambani was wielding political influence over the process. The telecom ministry said Starlink, Reliance Jio’s Jio Satcom and Eutelsat OneWeb were all at broadly the same regulatory stage, with mandatory security assessments still under way before spectrum can be assigned. It described suggestions of an unfair or discriminatory process as “baseless and misconceived”. Reliance Jio did not respond to requests for comment, according to reports.
Starlink has already secured a licence to operate in India, but a commercial launch requires it to satisfy security compliance conditions and receive a spectrum assignment. Musk’s SpaceX unit is seeking entry into a market of more than a billion internet users, currently dominated by the mobile networks of Ambani’s Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel. The dispute follows a four-year wait for Starlink’s satellite internet services in the country, which has fuelled heated exchanges online over business influence and regulatory delays. Further details of the regulatory row show officials insisting every operator faces the same process.
What happens next
For American households already watching their spending as consumer sentiment slumps, the row is a reminder of how fiercely contested the global market for connectivity has become. Musk has argued that satellite internet could connect remote areas, give children better access to education and help small businesses reach global markets, adding that Starlink has proved valuable during natural disasters. Whether regulators clear the path, however, remains their decision: Indian officials insist every licensed operator must complete the same security assessments before services can begin.
