Why Elon Musk is taking on India's richest man over Starlink

Why Elon Musk is taking on India's richest man over Starlink

Elon Musk has accused the Ambanis of blocking Starlink's entry into India

Elon Musk has asked whether billionaire Mukesh Ambani is the "real boss of India" as his satellite internet company Starlink continues to wait for final approval to launch in the country.

The comment came one day after Musk accused unnamed powerful business interests of trying to stop Starlink from entering India. He later named Ambani, whose Reliance conglomerate owns Jio, India's biggest mobile network operator.

India has denied Musk's claims, saying its satellite communications rules are fair and non-discriminatory.

Ambani and Reliance Group have not commented on Musk's remarks.

The dispute comes as competition intensifies in India's satellite internet market, with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel also preparing to roll out services.

The rivalry is made more complex by the fact that Starlink has also teamed up with Ambani's Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

In March 2025, both companies signed agreements with SpaceX to distribute Starlink equipment and services in India, pending government approval. They also said they could look into sharing network infrastructure.

Musk first made the allegations on Wednesday, accusing "certain oligarchs" of holding a "monopolistic chokehold" over Indian consumers.

"You can guess who they are," he wrote on X, adding that blocking Starlink was "a crime against the people of India".

On Thursday, India's Ministry of Communications replied that three operators - Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications - were broadly at the same point in the approval process, with all three still waiting for security clearances and spectrum allocation before commercial services can begin.

"The suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived," the ministry said, without directly naming Musk.

Musk kept questioning the delay, saying Starlink was already licensed in more than 165 countries.

"Starlink is licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India, so why still no license? Is Ambani the real boss of India?" he wrote on X on Thursday.

Starlink, owned by Musk's SpaceX, relies on satellites in low Earth orbit to deliver internet access, especially in remote places where mobile networks and broadband cables are hard or costly to install.

The company has been trying to enter India since 2021 and has obtained key licences. But it still requires final security clearances and spectrum allocation before it can start commercial services.

Mukesh Ambani, who owns Reliance, is the richest man in Asia

At the event, Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm and Mukesh Ambani's son, said the company was building its own satellite communications technology and working toward regulatory approvals.

When asked by a reporter about Musk's allegations, Akash declined to comment and only said, "We want to be heads down and deliver value to our Indian consumers."

Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said his company's satellite venture was also waiting for government approvals.

SpaceX executive Lauren Dreyer, who oversees Starlink's business operations, said the company had spent years working with Indian regulators and had built security controls into its network to satisfy the country's requirements.

Security has been a major concern around Starlink's entry into India. In 2024, Indian authorities said they had recovered Starlink equipment during a drug-smuggling investigation in the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands and an army operation in the northeastern state of Manipur.

Musk said at the time that Starlink's service had never been active in India, arguing that the equipment recovered by authorities could not have been using its satellite network.

There are also questions about how affordable the service would be for Indian consumers, especially in rural areas.

India is one of the world's biggest internet markets, but access is still uneven, particularly in remote areas where mobile networks and broadband cables are difficult or expensive to build.

Musk has said Starlink could help close this gap. "Starlink in India would enable high-speed, affordable internet connectivity for those who can't afford current prices or who don't have a connection at all!" he wrote on X on Wednesday.

The company has not yet announced prices for India, but some experts say its plans elsewhere suggest the service may be out of reach for many Indian households.

In the US, Starlink's residential plans begin at $55 a month, although prices and equipment costs differ by plan and location.