Govt counters Musk, says satellite clearance process non-discriminatory

Elon Musk says Starlink can fill gaps left by mobile services; posted on X earlier that 'certain oligarchs' were blocking its India entry

India’s communications ministry on Thursday said it was following a “fair and non-discriminatory” authorisation framework for all telecommunications services, including satellite communication (satcom) services, and that preferential clearance for any single operator would be inconsistent with that regulatory environment.

 

In a statement, the ministry said security assessment was part of this process and was currently under way for all three licensees. Once completed, it would lead to the next step of seeking assignment of spectrum.

 

“At present, all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage. As such, the suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived,” the ministry said.

 

The statement comes a day after SpaceX, Tesla founder and American billionaire Elon Musk blamed “certain oligarchs” for blocking his satellite internet company Starlink’s entry into India on Wednesday night (India time), hours after a top executive said at a public forum that the company had invested in the Indian market and was ready to begin operations as soon as it received the official nod. 

“Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are… This is a crime against the people of India!” Musk said in a post on X late Wednesday evening. Musk, who also owns the social media platform X, did not name any company or group. 

 

His response was to a post by @DogeDesigner that said India needed Starlink because of its ability to offer connectivity to the remotest regions of the country, and that the government should complete the remaining clearances and spectrum allocation.

 

“Indian needs Starlink. 11,256 of India’s listed villages still had no 4G coverage as of May 2026 … BharatNet has laid more than 850,000 route-kilometre of fibre and made about 221,000 gram panchayats (GPs) service-ready. Yet its points of presence were reported operational at only 80,472 GPs as of June 2026…,” the DogeDesigner post said.

 

Starlink is among the three applicants seeking to offer satellite broadband services in India. The other two are Bharti group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, now part of Eutelsat Group, and Reliance Industries-backed Jio Satellite Communications, a subsidiary of Reliance Jio. All three have been awarded licences but are awaiting security clearances.

 

Jio is separately building its own low-Earth orbit (Leo) satellite constellation, which will rival global players such as Starlink and Amazon Leo (formerly known as Project Kuiper), the latter of which is also eyeing an entry into India.

 

Starlink received its last approvals last year, while Eutelsat and Jio received theirs earlier.

 

The Department of Telecommunications has approved a spectrum charge of 5 per cent of adjusted gross revenue, which is yet to be approved by the Union Cabinet. Commercial launches by any of the companies would be dependent on government approvals and clearances, which are yet to be granted. India is seeking assurances of control over the satellite systems in case of exigencies, according to people aware of the developments.

 

Musk’s post came hours after Lauren Dreyer, vice-president, business operations, SpaceX, said the company was ready for the Indian market as soon as India gave it the green signal. She added that the company had built its operations specifically for India’s security requirements.

 

“We are standing ready to serve India once India is ready. We’re ready to work with the government. We are ready to work with operators and with industry to this end. We are ready to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi achieve his vision of 100 per cent connectivity throughout India — a vision all of our company, including Elon, shares,” Dreyer said at the India Mobile Congress on Wednesday morning. “Hopefully, next time I address the Congress, the government’s work will be complete, and Starlink will be authorised and ready,” she said.

 

Starlink is awaiting the Indian government’s security clearance and approval for foreign direct investment, having received permissions from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) and a Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite licence. Dreyer said Starlink had already made investments in India, with more than 20 gateway sites ready to begin operations.

 

The company was also ensuring that its business met the security requirements and other regulations needed to operate in the country, she said.

 

Dreyer observed that Starlink had been building relationships with industry, including tieups with Bharti Airtel and Jio, and partnering state governments over the past five years to better understand the market and prepare for the start of operations.

 

“We have built our Starlink operations specifically for India in recognition of Indian security requirements and other regulations, establishing controls at every layer for India and keeping Indian user data within India. We have already made the investment and built the existing ground infrastructure here — 20 gateway sites comprising hundreds of antennae — and we have established the operations to be ready to serve India,” she said.

 

She also said that the digital divide must be narrowed and that this would not be possible by leaving out a substantial portion of the population. “But there’s no one of us that can solve this challenging problem of the digital divide. It takes all of us thinking about how to apply the best technology in the places that it serves best. As Starlink serves over 170 countries around the world and growing, our consistent theme has been to work very closely with governments, private industry, and all of those looking to connect people who need reliable connectivity and connect and connected around the world,” she added.

 

Terming India’s achievements in digital connectivity “extraordinary”, with millions connected and affordable data available at scale, Dreyer flagged that the last mile remained.

 

“It’s the most challenging to connect. It’s also where Starlink offers the biggest potential to help accelerate the speed to connect 100 per cent of India. With Starlink, people can get connected within minutes, not years,” she added.