Starlink, the low-Earth-orbit satellite internet network run by SpaceX, still cannot sell service in India, and the obstacles are a pending security clearance and an unfinished decision on satellite spectrum pricing rather than an outright refusal. Satellite News reported on 18 October that India’s communications and security ministries have held a firm line on data localisation, lawful interception and protection of the domestic telecom industry, while Outlook India reported that Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on 9 October that all three licensed satellite operators are waiting on the same two things.
Key facts
- Scindia said on 9 October that the three licensees await a final decision on how satellite spectrum is priced and a Ministry of Home Affairs security clearance that each company must earn individually, according to Outlook India.
- Starlink formally applied for a licence in November 2022 and received it in June 2025, after a letter of intent in May, Outlook India reports.
- Space regulator IN-SPACe cleared Starlink’s first-generation constellation in July 2025, and provisional spectrum for trials followed in September, according to the same report.
- Indian telecommunications law requires all voice, messaging and broadband data crossing domestic airspace to terminate at certified Satellite Earth Station Gateways physically located on Indian territory, Satellite News reports.
- Jio has lobbied the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to auction satellite spectrum used for retail broadband and direct-to-device services, according to Satellite News.
Why it matters
India is one of the largest markets Starlink has not entered. Satellite News reports that foreign low-Earth-orbit operators will only be allowed to work in India under tightly monitored, locally anchored conditions intended to preserve domestic telecom sovereignty. Readers weighing what the service might eventually cost Indian subscribers can compare the price and capacity questions hanging over Starlink’s India plans.
What the minister says is outstanding
Scindia has rejected claims that Starlink is being singled out. Satellite News quotes him saying revenue charges and spectrum assignment will be settled once all three parties individually meet their milestones on security concerns and prerequisites, and that compliance must be completed by each of them before commercial operations can start. “India does not allow monopolies,” he said, according to the outlet. Our own earlier reporting set out the four-step queue Starlink, Jio and OneWeb are in.
The gateway and interception rules
Satellite News reports that, unlike jurisdictions that allow satellite traffic to route through offshore ground gateways, India mandates on-shore termination at certified gateways. Indian defence planners, according to the outlet, require real-time lawful interception, decryption access and full visibility over how data packets are routed, in order to prevent unmonitored cross-border transmissions along sensitive frontier zones. Licences stay withheld until foreign operators satisfy those prerequisites, it says.
Sanchit Vir Gogia, founder and chief executive of Greyhound Research, told Outlook India that India wants to know who can switch a network on and off over its territory, whose law governs interception, where Indian data is held and who else may use it.
Commercial opposition
Satellite News reports that Starlink also faces entrenched opposition from Reliance Jio, controlled by Mukesh Ambani, and Bharti Airtel, led by Sunil Bharti Mittal. Having bought terrestrial 5G spectrum in government auctions and built extensive fibre networks, the outlet says, those operators regard unauctioned satellite spectrum as a distortive market subsidy. The Cellular Operators Association of India, the industry body for mobile carriers, has challenged satellite spectrum charges as unfair relative to the burdens on terrestrial carriers, it adds.
Security incidents cited
The Andaman and Nicobar seizure
Outlook India reports that in November 2024, police in Andaman and Nicobar seized a Myanmar-origin boat carrying more than 6,000 kg of suspected methamphetamine with a Starlink Mini terminal aboard, and that investigators suspected the crew used it where mobile networks do not reach.
The Manipur recovery
In a separate operation in Manipur, Outlook India reports, security forces recovered a Starlink-branded dish and router alongside weapons and ammunition, the router reportedly marked “RPF/PLA” for the Revolutionary People’s Front and its armed wing.
What SpaceX and analysts say
Elon Musk has said Starlink’s beams were switched off over India and were never active there, Outlook India reports, and the outlet notes the recoveries do not show that either device connected to Starlink’s network. Gogia told the magazine that a regulator asked to trust a switch it cannot see will ask for proof, and that asking for that proof is due diligence.
The political row
Musk’s accusations
The dispute became public on 7 October, when Musk accused unnamed “oligarchs” on X of blocking Starlink’s entry, then asked whether Ambani — whose Jio has its own satellite arm — was “the real boss of India”, according to Outlook India. He later shared screenshots of older reports alleging Reliance-linked firms had backed Bharatiya Janata Party campaigns, and exchanged posts with opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, the magazine reports. Musk says Starlink has spent five years complying with every Indian requirement and calls the delay an obstacle to competition.
Pressure from the Swadeshi Jagran Manch
Outlook India reports that on 13 October the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, urged the central government to deny Starlink permission, arguing authorities sometimes need to suspend internet access during law-and-order situations; co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan warned that laser links between satellites could carry traffic around Indian gateways. We covered the Swadeshi Jagran Manch’s objection separately.
What comes next
Satellite News reports that TRAI is still finalising its spectrum pricing recommendations, and that India continues to back indigenous space communications through ISRO’s commercial roadmap and public-private constellations. The regulator issues such recommendations after the public consultation process documented on its own site. Satellite broadband will eventually serve remote Himalayan outposts and island territories, Satellite News says, but only on locally anchored terms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to the Starlink pre-orders Indians paid for in 2021?
According to Outlook India, Starlink began taking pre-orders for its devices in November 2021 and had more than 5,000 sign-ups by January 2022, while reportedly targeting 200,000 devices in India by December 2022. It had no licence at that point, so the Department of Telecommunications directed it to stop taking bookings and Starlink returned thousands of pre-order payments.
Which satellite operators already had Indian licences before Starlink?
Outlook India reports that by the time Starlink formally applied in November 2022, Reliance’s Jio Satellite Communications and Bharti Airtel-backed OneWeb already held Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite licences. Satellite News adds that both incumbents are building their own orbital services, Jio through a partnership with SES on JioSpaceFiber and Airtel through its equity stake in Eutelsat OneWeb.
Has India restricted foreign telecom equipment on security grounds before?
Yes. Outlook India notes that in December 2020, citing national security, India required operators to buy network gear only from government-approved suppliers, a measure that has effectively shut out Huawei and ZTE.
What is happening to foreign investment in India while this dispute runs?
Outlook India reports net foreign investment of $27.99 billion in 2022–23, falling to under $1 billion two years later before recovering to $6.95 billion. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Rajya Sabha on 28 July that the drop reflected higher repatriation and disinvestment by foreign investors plus more overseas investment by Indian companies; CPI(M) MP John Brittas questioned that explanation in Parliament.
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