New Delhi: SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk Wednesday said his satellite broadband service Starlink was being kept out of India by “certain oligarchs”, hours after a company official told the India Mobile Congress that Starlink had built its ground network and was waiting for government approvals.
“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 posted on X.
He, however, did not name anyone.
Musk was replying to a post by the X handle DogeDesigner, which said: “India needs Starlink.” The post added that 11,256 of India’s listed villages lacked 4G coverage as of May 2026, and that 4.26 percent of the country’s internet subscriptions were wired connections in March 2026. “India should complete the remaining clearances and spectrum allocation so Starlink can begin commercial service,” it said.
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! https://t.co/t3YONgpcm7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2026
Responding to Musk’s post Thursday, the Ministry of Communications said in a statement that a post “being circulated in social media” suggested the regulatory framework for satellite communication services was being applied “in a discriminatory manner”, and called the suggestion “baseless and misconceived”.
The ministry, without naming Musk, said the government “has put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services”, and that GMPCS licences had been granted to three non-geostationary orbit operators.
“Under the terms and conditions of license, every such licensee is required to demonstrate compliance with security conditions,” it said, adding that the security assessment “is currently under way in respect of all the three licensees”. Once this process is completed for a licensee, “it may proceed to the next step of seeking assignment of spectrum”, the ministry said. “At present, all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage.”
Also on Wednesday, an X user account by the name of ‘The Modern Himachal’ replied to Musk’s post and wrote, “Indian security forces had recovered Starlink terminals from insurgent groups in Manipur (including one marked RPF/PLA) and reports indicate militants near the Myanmar border have used smuggled units to bypass internet shutdowns during the ethnic violence.”
DogeDesigner responded to this, saying, “The claim that militants used Starlink in India makes no sense. Starlink satellite beams are turned off over India. With the beams off, no Starlink device can connect in India. Even Elon Musk himself has confirmed this. Stop spreading misinformation.”
The claim that militants used Starlink in India makes no sense.
Starlink satellite beams are turned off over India. With the beams off, no Starlink device can connect in India.
Even Elon Musk himself has confirmed this.
Stop spreading misinformation. https://t.co/pXOq3EJLml pic.twitter.com/6PVA11Be3u
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) October 7, 2026
Musk reacted to DogeDesigner’s post with a grab of a news report which said that the Starlink device found in Manipur was not working. “Starlink beams are turned off over India, so the claim that they were used by anyone for any reason is absolutely false,” he posted.
Starlink beams are turned off over India, so the claim that they were used by anyone for any reason is absolutely false https://t.co/hiUiyMDGF8 pic.twitter.com/y3R2L5JV7h
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2026
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‘Ready to serve India’
Earlier in the day, Lauren Dreyer, Vice President-Starlink Business Operations at SpaceX, said the company had set up 20 gateway sites comprising hundreds of antennas in India, and would keep Indian user data within the country.
“We’re standing ready to serve India once India is ready,” Dreyer said. “We’re ready to help Prime Minister Modi achieve his vision of 100 percent connectivity throughout India—a vision all of our company, including Elon, shares as well.”
Where approvals stand
Starlink holds a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), granted in June 2025, and authorisation from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), granted in July 2025. It cannot sell services until it is allotted spectrum and receives the second stage of security clearance. As a wholly foreign-owned company, it also needs foreign direct investment (FDI) approval.
On 3 September, the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), DoT’s highest decision-making body, approved a spectrum usage charge of five percent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), with four percent for rural and remote areas. The decision needs ratification by an inter-ministerial panel and the Cabinet.
In June, Bloomberg had reported that security agencies under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had withheld Starlink’s final clearances over the use of its terminals in Iran, where it is not licensed. Dreyer had denied the report.
Spectrum dispute
Wednesday’s post revives a dispute between Musk and India’s two largest telecom operators. In 2024, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio, and Bharti Airtel, chaired by Sunil Bharti Mittal, had argued that satellite spectrum should be auctioned, as airwaves for mobile services are. Starlink sought administrative allocation. Musk had called the auction proposal “unprecedented”.
Jio had told the regulator that “any preferential treatment of satellite-based services” should be rejected. Reliance had spent about $19 billion in spectrum auctions.
The Telecommunications Act, 2023, provides for administrative allocation of satellite spectrum, and the government chose that route.
In October 2024, replying to an X post asking whether Ambani was “afraid” of him, Musk had said he would call and ask whether Starlink could be allowed to compete in India.
In March 2025, Airtel and Jio had signed separate agreements with SpaceX to distribute Starlink equipment through their retail networks, subject to Starlink receiving government approvals. The Congress had then alleged the deals were “orchestrated” by PM Modi to win goodwill with then US President Donald Trump, to whom Musk was an adviser.
Jio and Airtel together hold over 70 percent of India’s telecom market. Jio Satellite Communications and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb also hold satcom licences and are awaiting spectrum.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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