India has pushed back against billionaire Elon Musk's accusation that "a few capitalist titans" are blocking the launch of his Starlink satellite communications service in the South Asian nation.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Musk said Starlink was being held back so that unnamed individuals could "maintain a monopoly over the people of India," calling it a "crime against the people of India."
In response, India's Ministry of Communications issued a statement on Thursday defending its satellite internet licensing process as fair and non-discriminatory. The ministry did not directly name Starlink or Musk.
"The suggestion that the legal framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misleading," the ministry said.
The ministry added that three different entities are at a broadly comparable regulatory stage and that all are undergoing security reviews.
India's telecommunications sector is currently dominated by Reliance Jio, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and Bharti Airtel, led by Sunil Mittal. Both conglomerates have also moved into the satellite internet space. Although they have secured preliminary approvals to launch services, they are still waiting for final licenses.
Musk has previously clashed with Ambani and Mittal over how India allocates spectrum access. Last year the two sides agreed to distribute the Starlink system alongside their own services, but the partnership appears to have frayed.
Starlink has been waiting since 2022 for a license to operate commercially in India. Last year the company received a key license from the Ministry of Communications to launch, along with approval from India's space agency.
Security concerns have mounted since 2024, after authorities said they found Starlink equipment during a drug seizure operation in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and in a separate army operation in the state of Manipur.
At the time, Musk alleged that Starlink's satellite constellations had subsequently been "turned off over Indian territory" and that they had "never been turned on in the first place."
