RSS-Linked Group Asks India to Block Starlink Launch

By John Maximus · Published 14 October 2026
Reported from named sources and checked against the publishers linked in this article. Corrections: editorial and corrections policy.

An economic-nationalist group affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has asked the Indian government not to let Elon Musk’s Starlink begin commercial satellite broadband service in the country. The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) made the demand on Tuesday, 13 October, in a statement from its national co-convener Ashwani Mahajan, according to The Indian Express.

The group’s track record

The SJM campaigns for domestic industry and against foreign entrants it considers security risks, and it has won that argument in telecom before. Mahajan told Mathrubhumi English that the group previously opposed the Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE on national-security grounds, after which neither was allowed to conduct trials in India, and that Indian companies and scientists went on to develop the 5G standard known as 5Gi. He recounted that record in the same remarks demanding Starlink be kept out.

Key facts

• The SJM says satellite broadband would make internet shutdowns, lawful interception and security enforcement harder, and claims unauthorised Starlink terminals have been found in sensitive areas and recovered by security agencies during investigations, Outlook India reports.
• The Ministry of Communications calls its framework “fair and non-discriminatory” and says Starlink, Reliance Jio and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb are “broadly at the same regulatory stage”.
• The demand lands days after Musk asked on X whether Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani is the real boss of India.

Why it matters

• Remote users carry the consequence. Satellite broadband is aimed at the areas fibre and mobile networks do not reach. A refusal would leave those households with the two licensed domestic options — Jio’s satellite venture and Eutelsat OneWeb — which, on the communications ministry’s own account, have not finished the same security step.
• The conditions would not apply to Starlink alone. All three licensees sit at what the ministry calls broadly the same regulatory stage, so routing and shutdown terms settled in this fight become the bar any foreign-built constellation has to clear for Indian spectrum.
• Timing, not the paperwork, is the risk. A licence does not permit service: spectrum has to be assigned and security clearance granted first. The SJM is lobbying against that final step while the assessments are still open, and no report reviewed here carries a date by which a decision is due.

The routing objection

Starlink satellites relay data to one another over laser links before handing it down to a ground station, so a session that starts in India can reach the internet through a gateway outside it. The SJM argues that path puts Indian traffic beyond the reach of lawful interception and oversight, and it wants a written guarantee that India-originated traffic cannot bypass domestic gateways; Mahajan said the government wants that traffic routed through gateways inside India, per Outlook India.

The group’s second condition is geographic. “A key regulatory condition is that Starlink must be able to precisely restrict its services at the government’s behest; however, Starlink has not committed to meet this requirement, or its technology may not permit it,” the SJM said in the statement carried by The Indian Express. That is the organisation’s assertion, not a finding: Outlook India stresses the government’s own security assessments are still running.

Shutdowns and misuse

Mahajan said India faces law-and-order challenges in which cutting internet access frequently becomes essential — during separatism, terrorism, riots and protests. He contrasted that with conventional telecom operators, which the group said can suspend or restrict service in specified areas on government direction and cooperate with security and investigating agencies.

The SJM further warned that satellite terminals could let hostile actors, smugglers or insurgent groups communicate outside conventional networks, Outlook India reports. The statement comes amid protests in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, where authorities have taken preventive measures to restrict mobilisation, according to The Indian Express.

What the government has said

The Ministry of Communications has said the three satellite licensees must demonstrate compliance with security conditions before moving to spectrum assignment and commercial operations, with assessments underway. It has also pushed back on the charge that Starlink is being singled out, describing allegations of discriminatory treatment as baseless and misconceived, Outlook India reports. Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has since said security clearances sit with the Home Ministry, placing the decisive call outside the ministry that issues the licences.

Where the reports diverge on Starlink’s licence

• The Indian Express and Outlook India: the government says Starlink, Reliance Jio and Eutelsat OneWeb have been issued licences, with security compliance still to be shown.
• Mathrubhumi English: Mahajan says Starlink’s commercial satellite broadband application remains under review — neither approved nor rejected.

Nothing in the three reports resolves that gap, which decides whether the open question is the licence itself or only the conditions attached to it.

Starlink price and availability in India

Cost is part of the SJM’s pitch. Mahajan said that even with a slight delay in launching home-grown satellite internet services, India would still be able to offer them far cheaper than Starlink while protecting national security, Mathrubhumi English reports, and The Indian Express reports the group arguing that keeping Starlink out would buy time to accelerate indigenous capability for remote regions. Neither report puts a figure on that comparison, and none of the three sources cites a published Starlink price for India or a launch date.

The Musk–Ambani dispute

What Musk has said

Musk has blamed the delays on monopoly power, calling Ambani “Prime Minister Ambani” on X and accusing unnamed oligarchs of protecting a monopolistic chokehold.

On Saturday he shared media reports alleging that a Reliance-backed company aided social media campaigns for the BJP and made substantial political donations to the party, Mathrubhumi English reports. Reliance has not commented publicly.

How the SJM answered

Mahajan accused Musk of trying to win the licence by generating public pressure rather than answering the clarifications sought from his company — or else of speaking out of frustration.

The group also tied its demand to trade. If the United States can restrict Indian imports such as handicrafts through tariffs justified on national-security grounds, it argued, India is within its rights to block Starlink on its own security concerns.

Rivals who signed with SpaceX

The competitive picture is tangled. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel dominate India’s terrestrial telecom market and both hold satellite interests — Jio through a venture with SES, Bharti as a major shareholder in Eutelsat, which operates OneWeb — yet both signed agreements with SpaceX last year to explore distributing Starlink in India, according to The Indian Express. Jio has itself signed a Starlink distribution agreement, which is the company Musk now accuses of standing in the way.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is 5Gi?

5Gi is the 5G standard that Ashwani Mahajan says Indian companies and scientists went on to develop after Huawei and ZTE were kept out of Indian trials, according to Mathrubhumi English. The three reports reviewed here do not describe how widely it has been deployed or how it compares with the global 3GPP 5G specifications.

Have Reliance Jio or Bharti Airtel responded to the demand?

The three reports reviewed here carry no reaction from either company to the Swadeshi Jagran Manch statement. Reliance has also not commented publicly on the reports Musk circulated about political donations, Mathrubhumi English reports; the only corporate voice in this reporting is Musk’s.

Would refusing a licence remove Starlink terminals already in India?

The reports reviewed here do not address enforcement. The group’s own complaint separates commercial service, which requires a licence and assigned spectrum, from the unauthorised terminals it says security agencies have recovered — equipment that was never licensed in the first place, and that a refusal would not by itself account for.