Musk targets Ambani over Starlink delay; BJP, Centre deny bias

In a post on X, Musk said, "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?"

Musk had earlier alleged certain oligarchs were protecting a monopolistic chokehold over Indian telecom market to delay Starlink. His remarks came amid four-year wait for commercial launch of satellite internet services, which promise high-speed connectivity for rural and remote areas.

Centre rejected the charges, terming them baseless and misconceived. Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said India does not allow monopoly in any sector and regulatory framework is fair and non-discriminatory. He said Starlink, Reliance Jio Satellite and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb are at broadly same stage, awaiting security clearance from Home Ministry and spectrum assignment. Data localisation and ground terminal security were cited.

The row turned political. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi replied to Musk, "Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy." BJP hit back, accusing Congress of siding with foreign billionaire. Party leaders said security protocols cannot be bypassed and spectrum allocation would follow transparent process.

Reliance Jio did not respond to Musk's remarks. Markets reacted with Reliance shares dipping over two percent on Thursday following the controversy.