Elon Musk vs India: Govt denies cronyism in Starlink license delay

Elon Musk's Starlink faces a licensing delay in India, sparking a clash with the government. Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia refuted Musk's claims of cronyism, stating Starlink, Jio, and OneWeb are all awaiting final security clearances.

A high-stakes showdown over satellite internet rollout in India has erupted, pitting SpaceX CEO Elon Musk against the Indian government and domestic telecom majors, and spiralling into a political clash involving the Opposition. At the centre is the delay in granting commercial approval to Starlink.

Government Rejects Cronyism Allegations

The government response came at the 10th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC 2026) in the national capital, where Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia rejected allegations of preferential treatment or cronyism in the satcom licensing process. Addressing queries at IMC 2026, Scindia said India will not allow a monopoly in any sector. He said three players have received licences and are operating on a level playing field.

"Let me be very clear. India does not allow a monopoly in any sector. And therefore, even as Satcom is concerned, there is not a single licensee that has been chosen. Licences have been given to everyone who wants to provide these licences. And today three licences are out there," Scindia said.

The three licensed Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) operators are Reliance Jio Satcom, Bharti Airtel-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Starlink. Scindia added that Amazon's Project Kuiper has also expressed interest and will have to undergo standard evaluation.

Three-Stage Licensing Roadmap

Scindia outlined a three-stage roadmap. Spectrum allocation policy, the decision to assign satellite spectrum administratively rather than through auction has been finalised. Pricing regime, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are finalising spectrum pricing and revenue-sharing and security clearance assessments by the Ministry of Home Affairs and national security agencies are underway.

"Initially, whether spectrum will be assigned or auctioned, that decision was taken. Secondly, irrespective of administrative assignment, what the pricing regime will be. And TRAI and DoT have been in conversations on that. We are close to taking the final decision with respect to that. And the third has to do with security requirements and requisites being followed," Scindia said.

"Once the revenue charges system is finalised, once each one of these parties, party A, B, and C, all three, individually based on their achievement of milestones with regard to security concerns and prerequisites, have fulfilled the requirements, then obviously they can start operations," he added.

Musk Alleges Deliberate Blockage

The timeline triggered public remarks from Elon Musk. On X, Musk wrote: "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?"

Musk alleged that corporate interests were blocking Starlink: "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."

He then named Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, asking, "Is Ambani the real boss of India?" Musk argued the delay hurts rural India, which lacks high-speed connectivity, while urban users already have robust access.

Security Clearances and Data Localisation Pending

The Ministry of Communications and Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani dismissed Musk's charges as "baseless and misconceived," saying provisional spectrum and licences are held equally by all three players while final security clearances from the MHA remain pending for all.

Security requirements flagged include data localisation, ensuring Indian user data stays within borders, and ground terminal security to mitigate dual-use risks and regulate foreign Low-Earth Orbit access.

Addressing this at IMC 2026 on October 7, Lauren Dreyer, Vice President of Starlink Business Operations at SpaceX, said: "We are keeping Indian users' data within India."Dreyer said Starlink has established 20 gateway sites in India, developed India-specific security controls, and is "standing ready to serve India once India is ready."

Row Escalates into Political Clash

The row turned political after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi replied to Musk's post, "Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy." Musk responded, "Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling."

The BJP hit back at Gandhi for siding with a foreign billionaire against domestic security protocols, saying clearances cannot be bypassed for corporate schedules.

Scindia also criticised the Congress's stance, "And as far as the Congress party is concerned, I don't understand. I don't think they themselves know whether they're going left or right… They first had a problem initially with a certain person getting a licence. Now they have a problem, and they've allied with that person in terms of why he's not getting a licence."

Current Status of Satcom Licensing

At a CEO roundtable during IMC 2026, Scindia reiterated, "The government is technology agnostic. Our job is to provide a bouquet of services. It is for customers to choose in a free market what they prefer."

Licensing is completed for Starlink, Reliance Jio Satcom and Eutelsat OneWeb. The allocation methodology, administrative assignment over auction, is completed. Pricing and revenue sharing are near completion, with DoT and TRAI finalising the framework. Security clearance is underway, with MHA evaluating data localisation, gateway access and terminal security. Commercial launch remains pending, dependent on each operator individually fulfilling security requirements.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)