Musk asks if Ambani is 'real boss of India' as Starlink waits five years for launch clearance

Elon Musk has turned a regulatory standoff into a public confrontation with one of India's most powerful businessmen, asking on X whether Mukesh Ambani — chairman of Reliance Industries and owner of Jio, the country's dominant telecom operator — is the 'real boss of India.' The question, posted Thursday, came a day after Musk accused unnamed 'oligarchs' of blocking Starlink's commercial launch to protect their 'monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people.' India's government promptly rejected both claims.

Is Ambani the real boss of India?— Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX

Musk framed the question around Starlink's prolonged regulatory limbo. Posting on X, he asked why Starlink still lacked a license despite being authorized in more than 165 countries and spending five years meeting every Indian government law and requirement, according to scroll.in. He did not name Ambani directly in the oligarchs post, telling followers 'you can guess who they are,' but the follow-up question left little ambiguity.

The Indian government pushed back swiftly. According to TechCrunch, India's Ministry of Communications described its satellite-communications regulatory framework as 'fair and non-discriminatory,' adding that Starlink and two other licensed satellite operators are all at 'broadly the same regulatory stage' — each required to clear security assessments before seeking spectrum, the radio frequencies satellites use to deliver service.

The ministry did not name Musk or Starlink in its statement, referring instead to 'a widely shared post on social media,' according to scroll.in. Sunil Mittal, who backs rival satellite operator Eutelsat OneWeb through Bharti Airtel, confirmed Thursday that OneWeb was also still waiting for approvals, according to scroll.in — lending some support to the government's position that the delays are systemic rather than targeted.

Starlink's situation is more advanced than Musk's posts suggest, but still stuck. The company holds a Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) authorization from India's Department of Telecommunications, secured in July last year after signing distribution partnerships with both Jio and Airtel in March of that year, according to CNBC. What it lacks are the final security clearances and spectrum allocation needed to actually switch on service. Bloomberg reported earlier this year that New Delhi had frozen approvals over concerns that Starlink terminals could be used even without a license, according to CNBC.

Security rules amended in May add further requirements: SpaceX must be able to disable Starlink receivers purchased outside India if taken abroad, and terminals sold within the country if taken out of it. The rules also impose extensive surveillance obligations on satellite internet services, according to scroll.in.

The irony of the Jio partnership is hard to miss. Ambani's company — which Musk is now publicly questioning — is also one of Starlink's two Indian distribution partners. Jio and Airtel together control roughly 80% of India's telecom and internet market, according to CNBC. Both are also developing their own satellite internet services: Jio through a joint venture with satellite operator SES, and Airtel through its backing of Eutelsat OneWeb, according to TechCrunch.

Musk's comments landed in the middle of India Mobile Congress, a major telecom industry conference in New Delhi, where Starlink vice president of business operations Lauren Dreyer had just reaffirmed the company's commitment to the market.

We stand ready to serve India.— Lauren Dreyer, VP of Business Operations, Starlink

Dreyer said she hoped Starlink would be operational in India by 2027, according to scroll.in, and noted the company had already built 20 gateway sites — ground stations that link satellites to the internet — with hundreds of antennas across the country.

Musk's broadside drew an immediate political response. Rahul Gandhi, leader of India's opposition Congress party, used the moment to take a swipe at the ruling establishment.

Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy.— Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition, Indian National Congress

Gandhi's comment was a veiled reference to Gautam Adani, India's wealthiest businessman and a frequent target of opposition criticism, according to CNBC. Musk replied to Gandhi: 'This is indeed troubling,' according to CNBC.

Akash Ambani, Mukesh's son and managing director of Jio Platforms, did not comment on Musk's initial Wednesday remarks when asked at a Delhi event, according to scroll.in. Speaking to Moneycontrol — a platform owned by the Reliance Group — on Thursday, he expressed the view that 'India needs its own indigenous stack of technologies,' according to CNBC.

Musk also used Thursday's posts to address a separate allegation: that Starlink terminals had been used by militants in Manipur. In a post cited by scroll.in, he stated that Starlink's beams are switched off over India, making it 'absolutely false' that they were used there for any purpose. The denial echoed one he issued in December 2024, after the Indian Army and Assam Rifles recovered a device bearing a Starlink label during operations in the region.

Starlink's India troubles date to 2021, when SpaceX first attempted to launch there. The company had to refund preorders in early 2022 after the Indian government called it out for effectively selling a service before obtaining the necessary licenses. The spectrum allocation fight that followed was also contentious: Jio argued satellite spectrum should be auctioned — which would have raised Starlink's costs — while Starlink pushed for administrative allocation. The Indian government ultimately adopted the allocation method Starlink had advocated. Despite all of that, and despite Starlink now operating in over 165 countries with 11,000 satellites in orbit, commercial service in India has not begun.

The stakes are significant. India has more than a billion internet subscribers, making it one of the largest potential markets for satellite broadband. Even as its India launch date remains uncertain, Starlink this week rolled out Starlink Mobile — a service that links standard handsets directly to satellites — in neighboring Bangladesh, according to TechCrunch.

Why it matters — India's billion-plus internet subscriber market is the world's largest untapped opportunity for satellite broadband, and how this standoff resolves will shape whether global tech companies can compete with entrenched domestic giants in one of the world's most consequential economies.

Sources differ on Whether business interests are blocking Starlink's India launch: Musk claims unnamed 'oligarchs' are blocking Starlink to protect a 'monopolistic chokehold'; he implied Mukesh Ambani's involvement. (techcrunch.com) vs India's Ministry of Communications says the regulatory framework is 'fair and non-discriminatory' and all three licensed satellite operators are at 'broadly the same regulatory stage.' (techcrunch.com)

Reported by techcrunch.com, forbes.com, business-standard.com, reuters.com, cnbc.com, scroll.in