Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance said it welcomed competition from Elon Musk’s Starlink and that its own satellite services were also awaiting clearance, its first response to accusations that Ambani was blocking Starlink’s India launch.
Musk, the world’s richest man, has repeatedly accused the Indian government and Ambani of stalling Starlink’s years-long efforts to launch in a market of more than a billion internet subscribers. India has denied any bias in its approval process.
The Friday statement, which did not name Musk, comes days before Reliance Industries’ digital unit Jio Platforms seeks a $108 billion valuation in India’s largest IPO to date.
Jio houses Reliance’s telecom arm, which has over 530 million customers and is a potential competitor to Starlink in India’s internet market.
“At Reliance, we have never feared competition,” the conglomerate said on Friday, addressing “remarks about Reliance and the Indian market” in a statement it said was intended to “place the facts on record”.
Starlink responded on Friday saying it had worked with Indian regulators and the industry for more than five years and had built dedicated systems, gateways and other infrastructure in the country with the required government approvals.
“Starlink is ready to connect India with high-speed internet,” the company said on X.
In a separate post responding to Reliance, Musk said: “Much appreciated”.
India’s long wait for satellite internet
Musk’s posts on X have ranged from asking whether Ambani was the “real boss” of India to addressing him as “Prime Minister Ambani” and asking whether he would allow Starlink to compete.
The attacks mark a sharp turn for Musk, who has a warm public rapport with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and come as New Delhi courts foreign investment and negotiates a trade deal with Washington.
India has licensed Starlink, Jio’s satellite internet arm and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb to operate services, but none has the security clearance needed to launch.
Satellite broadband could help to connect hundreds of millions of Indians who remain offline, mostly in rural and remote areas.
Musk has said he would price Starlink affordably in India to take on Jio’s low-cost internet plans. Cheap data is how Jio built its presence in India, and Musk has used the same strategy in markets like Kenya to disrupt local telecom players.