Musk renews Starlink pitch for India

Elon Musk is pressing his India pitch for Starlink, saying satellite internet can fill coverage gaps in areas with bad or no internet and even no mobile network. This comes a day after he accused unnamed "oligarchs" of blocking its entry.On Thursday, Musk shared posts from Indian users on X complaining about telecom services in their areas. He quoted a post by an X user named Nitin Meshram, according to a PTI report.Also read: Elon Musk says Starlink's entry in India 'blocked' by oligarchs, alleges 'monopolistic chokehold'"Starlink will be of great help to areas of India that have bad or no Internet and even no mobile coverage. No country has perfect coverage, including America, but Starlink can fill in the coverage gaps for those who most need it," Musk said.On Wednesday, Musk alleged that "certain oligarchs" were blocking Starlink's entry to protect their "monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people". "You can guess who they are... This is a crime against the people of India!" he wrote on X. He did not name any person or company.He also claimed that Starlink would bring high-speed, affordable internet to people who cannot afford current prices or have no connection at all, PTI reported.Centre's responseThe government rejected the allegation in a statement on Thursday. It did not name Musk or Starlink. It said a "fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework" is in place for all telecom services, including satellite communication.The Ministry of Communications said telecom licences have been granted to three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) operators using non-geosynchronous satellites. Every licensee must show compliance with security conditions, it said. The security assessment is under way for all three, and all of them are at broadly the same regulatory stage, it added. Any suggestion that the framework is unfair or discriminatory is "baseless and misconceived", the ministry said.Speaking on the sidelines of India Mobile Congress 2026, Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said the Department of Telecom has issued licences to all satcom companies, along with provisional spectrum. "Now the issue is pending with MHA for security clearance. As soon as it is cleared, they will get it. It has nothing to do with one company," he said, according to PTI.Starlink says it is readyAt the same event on Wednesday, Starlink Business Operations Vice President Lauren Dreyer said the company is ready to start services in India. She said it has built ground infrastructure of 20 gateway sites with hundreds of antennas, PTI reported."We've built our Starlink operations specifically for India in recognition of Indian security requirements and other regulations, establishing controls at every layer for India, and keeping Indian user data within India," Dreyer said.Also read: Govt rejects Elon Musk’s claims of discrimination in India’s satellite communications approval processBharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea did not react to Musk's allegation, PTI reported. Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Bharti Mittal said his company is also waiting for clearance. Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani said he had not seen the comment and could not share a view.Starlink's long road to IndiaET reported on August 20 that Starlink had resubmitted an application to IN-SPACe for its Gen 2 constellation. The application covers a low Earth orbit constellation at 340 to 615 km that includes direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity, people aware of the details told ET.IN-SPACe had earlier rejected Starlink's application for a proposed 30,000-satellite constellation, citing non-conformity of certain features and spectrum bands. It later authorised the Gen 1 constellation of 4,408 satellites in July 2025, ET reported.Starlink is competing with Reliance Jio's proposed low Earth orbit constellation, Amazon Leo and Eutelsat OneWeb for a share of the market. (With inputs from PTI)