Reliance Industries has backed open competition in India’s satellite communications market while rejecting Elon Musk’s allegations that unnamed business interests were blocking Starlink’s entry into the country. The company said every operator, including its own Jio platform, must comply with Indian laws and policies before starting services.
The statement came after Musk accused “certain oligarchs” of blocking Starlink’s India entry in a series of posts on X. Although he initially did not name any company, he subsequently referred to Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani in posts over the following two days.
“We welcome competition in satellite communications, including Starlink. Every player, Jio included, must serve the people of India and abide by the laws and policies of the land,” Reliance said in a statement issued on Friday.
The company said it had not historically avoided competition, pointing to Jio’s entry into India’s telecom market in 2016. According to Reliance, Jio entered as a new operator without an existing customer base and has since grown to more than 53 crore customers. The company also said its expansion had contributed to affordable data services and digital infrastructure in India.
Reliance added that its satellite services were still awaiting clearances. “Like every Indian enterprise, Reliance has grown in an India that welcomes investment and innovation, homegrown or international, that improve the lives of the people,” the company said. It added that the openness of the market rests on the rule of law and that the government applies the same process to Indian and foreign applicants.
The Union government has also rejected the suggestion that Starlink is being treated differently. Union telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said at the India Mobile Congress that three companies had received licences and that spectrum would be assigned once the government finalises a revenue-based charging system and the operators fulfil individual security conditions.
“There is a lot of conversation about a particular party, Starlink. But there are three parties that have got licenses,” Scindia said. He added that the companies could begin operations after meeting the required conditions.
The licensed operators are Sunil Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, Reliance Jio and Starlink. All three are preparing to offer satellite communications services in India. The technology is expected to serve remote areas where laying conventional ground-based broadband infrastructure is difficult or commercially unviable. Amazon’s Project Kuiper is also seeking a licence to operate in the country.
The regulatory process will determine when services can begin and how satellite spectrum is priced. It will also govern the security conditions that each operator must satisfy. The government’s stated position, as described by Scindia, is that licensing, spectrum assignment and security approvals are separate steps rather than an automatic consequence of receiving a licence.
For consumers and remote communities, the immediate significance of the dispute is that satellite broadband remains tied to regulatory clearance rather than commercial launch alone. Reliance’s statement confirms that Jio’s satellite service is not yet operational, while the government’s position indicates that all licensed providers face further conditions before beginning services.
