Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, has escalated his criticism of the delay in launching Starlink in India. Last week, he sarcastically referred to Mukesh Ambani, one of India's richest people and chairman of Reliance Industries, as "Prime Minister Ambani" and accused his supporters of protecting a monopoly. "Would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete?" Musk wrote on X, arguing that the service could bring internet access to underserved communities across India.
Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the opposition Indian National Congress, joined the discussion, writing: "Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy." Musk replied: "Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling." Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Gandhi of championing Musk's interests, while party leaders defended the government's handling of the issue.
Speaking during the India Mobile Congress 2026 in New Delhi last week, Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani declined to comment on Musk's remarks. He said: "I have no comments to make. We want to keep our heads down and deliver value to our Indian consumers." Akash, Mukesh Ambani's eldest son, also noted that Jio was progressing on its own end-to-end indigenous satellite broadband technology stack.
Meanwhile, Starlink — despite securing key approvals and signing distribution agreements with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel — has yet to begin commercial operations in India. Its low-earth-orbit satellites could provide internet access in remote villages, hilly regions and border areas where fiber-optic networks and mobile towers are expensive to build. But the service would enter a market where mobile data is inexpensive and established telecom operators have extensive networks.
India's Ministry of Communications says security assessments for all three licensed satellite operators are under way and that they are at broadly the same regulatory stage. In a statement, the ministry said every licensee must meet security conditions intended to protect users and their data. Once an assessment is completed, an operator can seek spectrum assignment.
It described allegations that the framework was unfair or discriminatory as "baseless and misconceived." Starlink secured a satellite communications licence from the Department of Telecommunications and authorization from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center in 2025. These approvals do not automatically permit commercial operations, however. The security debate surrounding Starlink has intensified following remarks by BJP leader Nishikant Dubey, who chairs a parliamentary committee.
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