New Delhi, Oct 16: Reliance Industries has said it welcomes Elon Musk’s Starlink to India and “has never feared competition.” The statement, posted on X on Friday, is its first reply to Musk’s repeated claims that Mukesh Ambani is blocking Starlink’s entry.
What Reliance said
The company said India is open to both Indian and foreign investment, and that the government applies the same process to every applicant. It also pointed out that its own satellite service, Jio, is still waiting for clearances.
Reliance described competition as the best test of who serves customers well. It recalled that Jio entered India’s crowded telecom market in 2016 with zero customers. Ten years later, it has more than 530 million users. Reliance said every company, Jio included, must follow Indian laws and serve the public. The statement did not mention Musk by name.
Musk’s attacks
Musk, the world’s richest man, has criticised Ambani and the Indian government for stalling Starlink’s launch for years. In one post, he said the arguments made against Starlink were contradictory. He said critics claim Starlink cannot compete with Jio’s low prices, yet also say it would be too strong a rival. He called this “absurd hypocrisy.”
Musk said more competition would give ordinary Indians more choices. Ambani’s profits might fall, he wrote, but “he is not going out of business.” In another post, he sarcastically addressed Ambani as “Prime Minister” and asked whether he would let Starlink compete.
The attacks are a sharp change in tone. Musk has a friendly public relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and India is currently negotiating a trade deal with the United States.
Government’s position
The government has denied any bias and rejected the claim that a “local oligarch” is influencing decisions. Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said there will be no monopoly in satellite communications. He added that three companies are in line for final commercial licences, and that a decision on pricing rules is close.
Starlink, Jio’s satellite arm and Eutelsat OneWeb, which is backed by Bharti Enterprises, have all received licences. None has the security clearance needed to start services.
A senior official said Starlink has not yet agreed to set up local base stations, which are hubs that connect users’ devices to the network. The rule helps authorities make sure companies follow the law. Sources say the government has no objection to Starlink launching once it addresses security concerns and agrees to build them.
Bharti Enterprises chairperson Sunil Bharti Mittal has said OneWeb may get approval before Starlink because it applied earlier and is further along in the process.
Why it matters
Satellite internet could connect hundreds of millions of Indians who are still offline, mainly in rural and remote areas. Musk has said he would price Starlink affordably in India. He has used a similar low-price approach in countries like Kenya to challenge local telecom companies.
The timing is also important for Reliance. Its digital unit, Jio Platforms, is set to launch India’s biggest-ever IPO in the coming days, seeking a valuation of about $108 billion.
