On Saturday, Elon Musk extended his public dispute with industrialist Mukesh Ambani by posting screenshots of media reports that described a Reliance-funded firm as having amplified Bharatiya Janata Party activity on social media, alongside reports that a Reliance-linked company had directed substantial political donations toward the party in power.
Two reports circulated in the X post — one from 2022 examining how a Reliance-backed entity amplified BJP election activity on Facebook, and another archived from 2024 covering Qwik Supply, which detailed that a company connected to Reliance directed Rs 385 crore toward the BJP and Rs 25 crore toward the Shiv Sena through the electoral bond mechanism.
The post surfaced against a backdrop of Musk's publicly stated objections to Mukesh Ambani, directed at the drawn-out regulatory process that has kept Starlink's satellite broadband service from launching in India. Reliance chose not to address Musk's allegations publicly, while the government held that its framework for authorising telecom and satellite services treats all parties equally and that any claim of selective application had no foundation in fact.
Several hours before that post went live, Musk addressed Mukesh Ambani on X using the title "Prime Minister Ambani," posing a question about whether Starlink would be allowed to compete in the Indian market on equal terms — a move Musk framed as a challenge to what he characterised as a sheltered monopoly.
In a written message directed at the prime minister, Musk contended that certain established players in the business landscape were acting to block Starlink's entry into the Indian market, framing his appeal with a tone of pointed deference toward what he described as the country's actual centre of authority. In the same message, he posed the question of whether, despite an apparent preference for preserving an existing dominant market position over Indian consumers, there might be room to permit Starlink to enter as a competitor.
Musk pointed to portions of India where connectivity remains unavailable, arguing that without it, children lose access to learning and local traders are cut off from customers beyond their own borders. In a further post, Musk contended that Starlink had demonstrated its value as a communications lifeline during natural disasters across various countries, stepping in when other networks went down, and argued that bringing the service to India could extend that same protection to people there.
Musk has contended that entrenched commercial players are working to shut out his service in order to hold onto their position in the Indian market. In a post on X, Musk stated that Starlink holds licences across more than 165 countries and has worked to meet the legal requirements of the Indian government throughout the five years it has operated there.
Speaking at a Friday briefing, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the country's regulatory framework bars monopolistic control across all sectors, with three separate companies already holding satcom licences and positioned to begin services once they satisfy the prescribed security requirements and operational milestones. Scindia maintained that monopolistic practices find no place in any sector of the economy, then moved to address the record directly.
The Department of Telecommunications stated that its approach to technology remains neutral, with no preference given to any particular platform or solution. The stated aim is to extend the full range of available services to each and every customer.
At the India Mobile Congress, the Union minister framed the question as one for consumers to answer, describing an open marketplace as a system where individuals weigh up both the type of service they want and the provider they trust to deliver it. Three entities — Starlink, Jio Satcom, and Eutelsat OneWeb — hold licences for satellite internet operations in India, while Amazon's Project Kuiper has indicated interest and would be required to go through the applicable approval process; the minister noted that spectrum assignment to the licence holders would follow once the government finalises its revenue-based charge framework, with individual operators able to begin services upon meeting the prescribed security conditions.
A ruling on how satcom spectrum will be priced is taking shape at TRAI and the telecom department, Scindia noted. Scindia also drew attention to what he described as an inconsistency in the Congress party's position, noting that the party had at one point objected to a particular company receiving a licence, yet later expressed concern that the very same company had been left without one — a tension he raised in the context of the online exchange between Rahul Gandhi and Musk.
At the India Mobile Congress, which was under way in Delhi at the time of Musk's online activity, Reliance Jio Infocomm's chair Akash Ambani set aside the satellite communications debate that had been circulating through the industry, turning his remarks toward the company's efforts to deliver value for customers throughout India.
