WASHINGTON DC, USA – February 13: Elon Musk, Secretary of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and X, meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Blair House in Washington DC, USA on February 13, 2025.
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space x Company founder Elon Musk shot at Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Thursday. A day later, it accused some “oligarchies” of blocking the launch of its Starlink internet service in India.
Musk said Starlink was not allowed to launch in India, even though it has been “in compliance with all laws and requirements” of the Indian government for five years.
“Is Ambani the real boss of India?” Musk asked in a post a day earlier, accusing the country’s “oligarchy” of maintaining “exclusive control over the people of India.”
Ambani’s Jio is India’s largest telecom and internet services operator, along with other large operators. airtelcontrols about 80% of the market.
Mr. Musk’s comments about Mr. Ambani caused a political uproar in India, drawing a response from India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who has consistently argued that the government is influenced by India’s leading businessmen.
“Wait until you meet the other one,” Mr. Gandhi said in a veiled statement, referring to Gautam Adani, India’s richest businessman, who is a major target of politicians. “This is really concerning,” Musk told Gandhi.
Reliance IndustriesAmbani’s flagship company did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Frozen approval
In March last year, Starlink signed an agreement with Ambani’s Jio Platforms and India’s second-largest telecom company Airtel to explore cross-selling the American company’s products and services in India.
Following a tentative agreement, Musk’s satellite internet business received a license to launch services in India in July last year.
However, Starlink could not be activated. Bloomberg reported earlier this year that New Delhi froze Starlink’s licenses over concerns that the terminals could be used without a license.
Meanwhile, Akash Ambani, Mukesh’s son and managing director of Jio Platforms, told shareholders in June that the company plans to roll out low-orbit satellite communications in the country.
According to local media reports, Jio is considering building a satellite network of around 1,600 LEO satellites and 23 ground stations to expand connectivity across India. Starlink, on the other hand, has 11,000 satellites in orbit, serving people in more than 170 countries and territories.
Akash Ambani on Thursday told Moneycontrol, a platform owned by Reliance Group, that the company believes “India needs its own indigenous technology stack.”
Satellite communications is not the only business plan for Mr. Musk in India that has gone awry. Tesla, launched last year in the South Asian country, received such a poor response that the company has reportedly sold just over 1,000 cars since its launch.
