Elon Musk’s standoff with the Indian government over Starlink’s planned entry into the country escalated on Thursday, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joining the SpaceX CEO in a social media exchange over the satellite internet company’s regulatory hurdles.
Musk said Starlink had spent five years complying with India’s laws and requirements but was still unable to begin operations.
“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 wrote on X.
Gandhi responded: “Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy.”
Musk replied to Gandhi: “Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling.”
The exchange came hours after the Ministry of Communications rejected Musk’s allegations that vested interests were blocking Starlink’s plans in India, saying all satellite communication companies were subject to the same regulatory requirements.
The telecom ministry said India had established a “fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework” for telecommunications services, including satellite communications.
It said licences had been granted to three satellite communication operators — Starlink, Reliance Jio’s Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb.
However, all three companies are required to demonstrate compliance with security conditions before they can proceed towards commercial operations.
“Security assessment as part of this process is currently under way in respect of all the three licensees,” the ministry said.
Once the security assessment is completed for a licensed operator, it can proceed to the next stage of seeking spectrum assignment, the ministry said.
“At present, all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage,” it added, calling the suggestion that the regulatory framework or its application was unfair or discriminatory “baseless and misconceived”.
Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said the delay was related to security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs and was not specific to Starlink.
“The Department of Telecom has issued licences to all satcom companies as well as provisional spectrum. Now the issue is pending with MHA for security clearance. As soon as it is cleared, they will get it. It has nothing to do with one company,” Pemmasani told reporters on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress.
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal also said his satellite venture was awaiting regulatory approvals.
“We are waiting for our own approvals,” Mittal said at the India Mobile Congress when asked about Musk’s allegations.
Musk’s latest post followed his earlier allegation that unidentified “oligarchs” were preventing Starlink from entering the Indian market to protect a “monopolistic chokehold”.
“Unfortunately, we (Starlink) 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 had said on X.
The SpaceX CEO did not identify any company in that post.
Starlink has said it has invested significantly in infrastructure and security systems designed specifically for the Indian market.
Lauren Dreyer, Starlink’s vice president for Business Operations, said at the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi on October 7 that the company had developed India-specific security controls and built 20 gateway sites in the country.
The company has also established ground infrastructure comprising hundreds of antennas and has prepared operations to begin serving customers, she said.
Dreyer said Starlink was “keeping Indian users’ data within India” and had worked with Indian regulators, industry stakeholders and operators for five years to adapt its operations to Indian requirements.
