SpaceX chief Elon Musk spent three days attacking Mukesh Ambani, chairman of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, over Starlink’s stalled launch in India, culminating in a post addressed to “Dear Prime Minister Ambani” that the Indian Express published on 9 October. The oddity sitting underneath the row: Ambani’s Reliance Jio, India’s largest mobile operator, signed a deal with SpaceX in March 2025 to stock, install and sell Starlink terminals through its retail network the moment regulators approve the satellite internet service, according to Startup Fortune.
Key facts
- On 7 October Musk posted on X that Starlink was “being blocked by certain oligarchs” seeking to keep a “monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people”, calling it a crime against the people of India, per Startup Fortune and Billionaires Africa. He named no one and gave no evidence, Billionaires Africa says.
- His sharpest line, quoted by Billionaires Africa via Gulf News: “Please accept my humble apologies for not realising that you are the real boss of India.” Ambani, 69, is worth about $100 billion and is Asia’s richest person, on Forbes figures cited by the outlet.
- Bharti Airtel struck nearly the same distribution arrangement with SpaceX a day before Jio did, Startup Fortune reports.
- Starlink has built 20 ground stations in India, Billionaires Africa reports.
- Jio and Airtel together hold about 80% of India’s telecom market, Billionaires Africa says, citing Semafor.
- Reliance did not respond to requests for comment from several outlets, per Billionaires Africa.
Where Starlink availability in India actually stands
The three outlets covering this week’s row do not agree on what is left to clear, and nobody has reconciled them. The Indian Express, writing on 9 October, says Starlink won IN-SPACe authorisation for its constellation last July — which industry executives called the last regulatory approval needed — after the Department of Telecommunications issued an operator licence three years on from SpaceX’s first application. Startup Fortune, writing after Musk’s 7 October posts, says final clearances from both the Ministry of Home Affairs and IN-SPACe have not landed. Billionaires Africa, publishing on 10 October, sits between the two: a key licence and space-regulator approval arrived last year, but clearance to sell has not.
The most recent and most authoritative account is the government’s own. India’s Ministry of Communications told the Indian Express on Thursday that its authorisation framework was “fair and non-discriminatory” and that any suggestion otherwise was “baseless and misconceived”, and said a security assessment is underway for all three licensees, each of which may seek a spectrum assignment once that assessment is complete. On the ministry’s version, no applicant has finished the process — which matches our earlier finding that all three applicants are still waiting on clearance.
Those licensees are Starlink, Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications, a wholly owned Jio Platforms subsidiary, with Amazon Leo also in contention for a licence. Telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday that India does not allow a monopoly in any sector and that three companies hold satcom licences, per Billionaires Africa and Startup Fortune. Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal dismissed Musk’s claims, noting his own venture is also awaiting approvals, the Indian Express reports.
The security objection behind the delay
The Indian Express reports the government has withheld a formal launch over anxieties that foreign satcom operators could bypass Indian gateways, leaving the state unable to control the service. Startup Fortune describes the same worry in network terms, citing Lightreading and Medianama: Starlink routes traffic over inter-satellite links rather than exclusively through ground stations on Indian soil, and officials want assurances user data will not slip beyond the country’s control during a crisis. Starlink’s vice president of business operations told Startup Fortune the company is in “productive discussions” with New Delhi and has built a bespoke deployment model to satisfy India’s sovereignty and security rules.
The distributor Musk is attacking
Startup Fortune frames the Jio retail agreement as undercutting Musk’s monopoly claim: the man he is publicly needling as India’s shadow premier runs the company that has committed to distributing Starlink hardware once it is legal. Billionaires Africa confirms both carriers signed 2025 agreements to sell Starlink equipment after approval, and says the relationship with India’s telecom giants has since soured.
That does not make the carriers Starlink allies on price or on spectrum. A group representing the two operators warned regulators that cheap satellite airwaves handed to Starlink would hurt their core mobile businesses, Startup Fortune reports, citing Reuters and Indian trade outlets. Jio is also building a rival of its own: the Indian Express reports it is developing a sovereign low-earth-orbit constellation and weighing a 1,600 to 1,650 satellite network costing an estimated $10 billion to $15 billion.
Why it matters
India has more than a billion internet users and large rural areas that remain poorly connected, Billionaires Africa reports. In his Friday post Musk argued Starlink could reach unserved areas, help children learn and help small businesses find customers, and asked whether Ambani would “nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete”, according to the Indian Express, which also quotes him saying the service has proven essential for saving lives during natural disasters when other systems fail. Startup Fortune notes Starlink sells in more than 100 countries yet still cannot legally connect a single Indian customer four years after applying — a standoff worth comparing with South Africa, where Starlink remains unlicensed.
What a connection would cost
Analysts quoted by the Economic Times put Starlink’s likely Indian retail price at ₹2,500 to ₹3,000 a month, roughly $30 to $36, Startup Fortune reports, while a carrier satellite offering is expected to undercut that at ₹500 to ₹1,000. The two outlets name different partners behind that cheaper service: Startup Fortune credits a joint venture with Eutelsat OneWeb, while Billionaires Africa reports Jio’s satellite joint venture is with Luxembourg’s SES and lists OneWeb India separately as a firm in which Airtel is a major shareholder. The reporting is most easily read as each carrier having its own partner — Airtel with Eutelsat OneWeb, Jio with SES — but neither outlet says so explicitly, so treat the pairing as unconfirmed. The price gap itself is not in dispute, and it bears directly on what an affordable Starlink in India would cost SpaceX.
What happens next
By the ministry’s account the sequence is fixed: the security assessment finishes, then each licensee can apply for a spectrum assignment, and only then can a commercial service switch on. Neither the ministry nor SpaceX has put a date on the first of those steps, which is why rival readings of Starlink’s paperwork can coexist. Three things will show which account was right — whether the Ministry of Home Affairs signs off, whether spectrum is assigned to Starlink alongside OneWeb and Jio Satellite, and whether Starlink’s 20 completed ground stations are allowed to carry paying traffic. Until one of those moves, Musk’s public pressure campaign is aimed at a company contracted to sell his hardware.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which incidents in India prompted security agencies to hold back Starlink’s clearance?
Billionaires Africa reports that Indian authorities raised concerns in 2024 after Starlink devices turned up in a drug seizure in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and during an army operation in Manipur. The same report says security agencies held back clearances in June this year after Starlink was switched on in Iran, where it has no licence, citing TheNextWeb.
How did India decide to hand out satellite spectrum, and who wanted what?
According to Billionaires Africa, Starlink wanted satellite airwaves allocated administratively while Jio pushed for an auction. The government chose administrative allocation, a decision the outlet says was seen at the time as a win for Musk.
Did Starlink ever publish an Indian price?
Startup Fortune reports that a test page briefly showed around 8,600 rupees a month plus a 34,000-rupee hardware cost. Starlink later said that figure was an internal placeholder rather than a real quote, according to Telecomtalk’s reporting cited by Startup Fortune.
How has Musk’s other big Indian business performed?
Billionaires Africa reports that Tesla started selling cars in India last year but registered only 699 vehicles in its first 12 months of deliveries, citing Electrek. The outlet says steep import duties pushed prices to nearly double their US level.
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