Musk says oligarchs block Starlink in India; Reliance and the government deny it

Reliance Industries said on Friday, October 16, that it has never feared competition and welcomes satellite operators including Starlink. The statement answered public remarks by Elon Musk, who has said that "certain oligarchs" are keeping Starlink out of India and has asked whether Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani is the real boss of the country.

What Musk said

According to Hindustan Times, Musk's first swipes came on October 7, when he accused unnamed oligarchs of blocking the satellite arm of SpaceX from getting spectrum in India. Hours after the communications ministry replied on October 8, he wrote that Starlink is licensed in more than 165 countries and had spent five years complying with Indian rules, and asked why it still has no licence. The Indian Express reports that he also called the delay a crime against the people of India.

In later posts, reported by Mint, Musk addressed Ambani sarcastically as prime minister, said Ambani's supporters were making contradictory arguments, and wrote that competition would lower Ambani's profits without putting him out of business. Mint also reports that Musk targeted Airtel as well as Jio.

What Reliance and the government said

In a statement it called a record of the facts, Reliance said the government applies the same process to every applicant, Indian or foreign, and that Jio's own satellite services are also awaiting clearances. It said Jio entered the Indian market in 2016 with no customers and now has more than 530 million. It added that every player, Jio included, must follow the laws and policies of the country. Mint, Hindustan Times and The Indian Express all carry the statement in the same terms.

The Ministry of Communications said on October 8 that the suggestion of unfair or discriminatory treatment was baseless and misconceived. According to The Indian Express, the ministry said a security assessment is under way for all three licensees and that, once it ends for a licensee, that company may move to seeking spectrum assignment. It said the three are at broadly the same regulatory stage. Mint reports that Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said no monopoly would be allowed and that three parties are in line for final approval.

What the record shows

The Indian Express reports that Starlink holds a satellite telecom licence and a space-regulator authorization, as do Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications. It says the government has not yet cleared a commercial launch, with security concerns cited. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Airtel's chairman, said the Bharti group is ahead of Starlink in the queue, according to the same report. An Economic Times report, citing an unnamed official, says Starlink must set up local base stations and has not fully answered security agencies' queries.

None of the reports read for this article independently verifies Musk's claim that Indian telecom interests have shaped the timing of Starlink's approval. They also do not show that the delay is purely procedural. The claim and the denials each rest on the statements of the parties.