Centre calls Musk’s Starlink ‘oligarchs’ claim baseless
The Ministry of Communications on October 8 rejected Elon Musk’s claim that “certain oligarchs” were blocking Starlink in India. It called the allegation “baseless and misconceived”. Musk had made the claim on X without naming anyone.
The ministry said India’s satellite communication framework is fair and non-discriminatory. It said three licence holders are at broadly the same regulatory stage. Security assessments are underway for all of them. Spectrum will be assigned once the checks are done.
The three operators are Starlink, Reliance Jio’s satellite venture and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb. All have early approvals but are waiting for final clearances. Starlink’s wait has stretched over four years due to security and spectrum issues.
Musk has earlier clashed with Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal over spectrum rules. In 2025, all three signed deals to distribute Starlink devices in India. Deloitte forecasts India’s satellite broadband market will be worth $1.9 billion by 2030.
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