BENGALURU, Oct. 9 2026 — Elon Musk publicly accused Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani of blocking Starlink’s commercial launch, addressing him in a sarcastic open letter as “Prime Minister Ambani” and the “real boss of India.”
In a post on X on Friday, Musk wrote: “Dear Prime Minister Ambani, Please accept my humble apologies for not realizing that you are the real boss of India. Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete?” He added that satellite internet could reach areas with no connectivity, supporting education and small businesses.
The remarks followed a Thursday post in which Musk stated that Starlink is licensed in more than 165 countries and has spent five years meeting Indian requirements, yet still lacks operational clearance. “Is Ambani the real boss of India?” he asked. In a follow-up, he noted Starlink’s role in maintaining communications during natural disasters elsewhere.
India’s telecom minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, rejected the monopoly allegation the same day. “India does not allow a monopoly in any sector,” he said. The government stated that three satellite operators—Starlink, Reliance Jio’s satellite arm, and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb—hold licenses and remain at the same stage, pending security clearances and spectrum assignment before commercial services can begin. Officials described claims of discriminatory treatment as baseless.
Starlink received a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite licence in June 2025 and constellation authorisation from IN-SPACe in July 2025. Commercial rollout still requires fulfilment of security conditions and spectrum allocation under a framework recently approved by the Digital Communication Commission, which sets usage charges at 4–5 percent of adjusted gross revenue. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel currently dominate India’s mobile market of more than a billion users. Ambani’s company did not immediately comment on Musk’s posts.
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