Elon Musk Turns Up the Heat on India, Accuses ‘Oligarchs’ of Blocking Starlink

Credit: flickr / Tesla Owners Club Belgium

Elon Musk has opened a new front in his long-running effort to bring Starlink to India, accusing unnamed “oligarchs” of blocking the satellite internet company to protect their grip on Indian consumers.

“Unfortunately, we 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 wrote on X on Wednesday.

Musk did not name the people or companies he was accusing. His complaint came after months of delays for Starlink, which has received a licence to provide satellite communications services in India but is still waiting for the remaining regulatory steps before it can begin commercial operations.

The Indian government pushed back within hours.

The Ministry of Communications said on Thursday that India’s satellite communications rules are “fair and non-discriminatory”.

It said security assessments are underway for all three licensed non-geostationary satellite operators including Starlink, Jio Satellite Communications and OneWeb, and that the companies are broadly at the same stage of the approval process. The ministry called claims of discriminatory treatment “baseless and misconceived.”

Musk has a company to get into India

Starlink has already spent heavily preparing for an Indian launch. SpaceX executive Lauren Dreyer said this week that the company has built 20 gateway sites, installed hundreds of antennas and adjusted its operations to meet Indian security requirements. She said Starlink has spent about five years working with Indian regulators and is ready to start once the necessary approvals arrive.

That leaves Musk in an awkward position. His company has built much of the machinery needed to operate, secured its satellite communications licence and now needs the final government permissions to turn that investment into revenue.

His latest attack looks less like a routine corporate complaint and more like an attempt to put political pressure on the people controlling the final gates.

Calling the delay a “crime against the people of India” also changes the argument. Musk is not presenting Starlink simply as a business asking for permission to enter a new market. He is casting its arrival as something ordinary Indians are being denied.

That framing may help Starlink's public case, but it also serves Starlink's commercial interests.

The targets Musk did not name

India’s telecom market is dominated by Reliance Jio, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and Bharti Airtel, led by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal. Both groups have major positions in India’s communications industry, and their satellite businesses are part of the same regulatory race. Reuters reported that Jio, Airtel and Starlink have all obtained early approvals connected with satellite services but remain subject to further spectrum and security requirements.

That makes Musk’s wording easy to interpret.

He wrote that readers could “guess” who the oligarchs are, without providing evidence or naming anyone. Some media reports have taken the remark as an implied reference to Ambani and Mittal, but that remains an inference, not an accusation Musk has formally attached to either businessman.

There is another complication: Bharti Airtel has also partnered with SpaceX to offer Starlink services. That makes the politics of the dispute less tidy than Musk’s post suggests.

New Delhi says the rules apply to everyone, not just Musk

The government's response puts the dispute on firmer ground than Musk's social-media accusation.

India says every satellite operator must meet security conditions before receiving spectrum. The ministry says all three current licensees are going through the security assessment process and that spectrum assignment comes after that stage is completed.

India has also already decided on the broad pricing framework for satellite spectrum. The Digital Communications Commission approved a charge of 5% of adjusted gross revenue, with a reduction for operators serving designated rural and remote areas, though final government steps were still pending.

So the immediate obstacle facing Starlink is not a government order naming Musk's company and shutting it out. It is a regulatory process involving security checks, spectrum assignment and other approvals.

That does not mean Musk is wrong about every problem Starlink has faced. Security concerns around the use of Starlink equipment have been raised by Indian authorities before, and those concerns have contributed to the scrutiny around the service.

A fight over market access dressed as a fight for consumers

Musk's anger is understandable from a business point of view.

India is one of the world's biggest internet markets, and satellite broadband gives Starlink access to customers in places where fibre and mobile towers can be expensive or difficult to deploy. Indian government documents also say satellite services could help connect rural, border, coastal and mountainous areas.

But the world's richest person's argument has a second layer.

Starlink is a profit-making company entering a market already controlled by powerful telecom groups. The public-interest language in his post may be genuine, but it also strengthens his negotiating position. Saying that Indian consumers are being denied better connectivity is a much more forceful argument than saying SpaceX wants quicker approval for its commercial service.