Elon Musk on Sunday renewed his criticism of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani over the delay in launching Starlink satellite internet services in India, accusing the industrialist's supporters of making contradictory arguments about competition and pricing.
In a post on X, the SpaceX chief argued that Starlink would give Indian consumers more choice, even if its entry reduced the profits of existing telecom operators. He maintained that Ambani's businesses would not be driven out of the market and that Starlink would have to make its services affordable if it wanted to attract customers.
Musk accused supporters of Ambani's internet businesses of “absurd hypocrisy and hyperbole”, arguing that they could not simultaneously claim Starlink would be unable to compete with India's low internet prices and present it as a powerful threat to established players.
“On the one hand, they say Starlink couldn't possibly compete with the amazing low prices offered by Ambani's de facto monopoly in India and then, in the same breath, they essentially claim that Starlink would be too strong of a competitor! This is absurd hypocrisy and hyperbole,” Musk wrote.
He said competition would benefit ordinary Indians by expanding consumer choice. “Ambani's profits will be lower, but he is not going out of business. And, obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable,” he added.
Musk questions Ambani's influence over Starlink's India entry
The latest remarks follow several days of public criticism by Musk over the regulatory delays affecting Starlink's commercial launch in India. The billionaire has suggested that powerful business interests are seeking to protect established telecom operators from competition, although he has not provided evidence that Ambani personally intervened to block Starlink.
On Friday, Musk sarcastically addressed the Reliance chairman as “Prime Minister Ambani”, suggesting that he wielded disproportionate influence over India's business and regulatory environment.
“Dear Prime Minister Ambani, Please accept my humble apologies for not realising that you are the real boss of India,” Musk wrote, before asking whether Ambani would allow Starlink to compete in the country.
Musk accused the industrialist of seeking to preserve what he described as a monopoly and questioned why Starlink had yet to begin commercial operations despite its efforts to meet Indian regulatory requirements.
He also argued that satellite broadband could help connect areas with limited or no internet access. According to Musk, improved connectivity could give children greater access to education and allow small businesses to sell their products to international markets.
In a separate post shortly afterwards, he said Starlink had proved essential in saving lives during natural disasters around the world when other communication systems had failed. He argued that the service could also help protect lives in India during emergencies.
Musk shares reports on Reliance-linked political donations
Musk's criticism has also extended to Reliance-linked companies and their reported political connections.
On Saturday, he shared screenshots of two media reports on X. One was an Al Jazeera report published in 2022, titled “How a Reliance-funded firm boosts BJP's campaigns on Facebook”, which examined the role of a Reliance-funded company in social media campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The second was an archived Indian Express report from 2024 concerning Qwik Supply, a Reliance-linked company that reportedly donated Rs 385 crore to the BJP and Rs 25 crore to the Shiv Sena through electoral bonds.
Musk's posts brought the reported political donations and the role of companies linked to major business groups into the wider dispute over Starlink's entry into India. The reports and figures cited in the posts do not, by themselves, establish that Reliance or Ambani influenced the government's regulatory decisions concerning Starlink.
Reliance has not publicly responded to Musk's latest allegations.
Centre rejects claims of preferential treatment
The government has rejected suggestions that India's regulatory framework is being applied selectively to prevent Starlink from entering the market.
Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday that India did not permit monopolies in any sector and that the government followed a technology-neutral approach to telecommunications.
Speaking at the India Mobile Congress, Scindia said the government's responsibility was to make a range of services available to consumers, who could then decide which technology and provider best suited their needs.
“Let me set the record straight. For us, the Department of Telecommunications, we are technology agnostic,” he said, adding that consumers should be free to choose their preferred service and company.
Scindia said three satellite communication operators had secured licences: Musk's Starlink, Reliance Jio's satellite venture Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb. However, the companies must individually meet the applicable security requirements and other regulatory milestones before launching commercial services.
Amazon's Project Kuiper has also expressed interest in the Indian market but will have to follow the established approval process.
The minister said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Department of Telecommunications were close to finalising the pricing framework for satellite communication spectrum, another key step towards determining the terms under which services can operate.
The government has maintained that its authorisation framework is fair and non-discriminatory, describing suggestions that it is being applied selectively as baseless and misconceived.
Starlink faces competition in India's telecom market
Starlink's proposed entry comes as India's satellite communication sector attracts interest from domestic and international companies. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are major players in the country's telecommunications market, while Starlink is seeking to expand its satellite broadband business into one of the world's largest internet markets.
Satellite broadband could provide an alternative to conventional mobile and fixed-line connections, particularly in remote locations where extending terrestrial networks may be difficult. However, its commercial prospects will depend on regulatory approvals, spectrum-related charges, security compliance and the price of subscriptions and equipment.
Musk has argued that competition would force providers to improve their services and give consumers more options. His critics, meanwhile, have pointed to India's relatively low mobile data prices and the role of domestic telecom investment in expanding internet access.
The dispute has therefore developed into a broader debate over market competition, regulatory transparency and the balance between domestic telecom infrastructure and foreign satellite services.
For now, Starlink's commercial launch remains subject to the outstanding regulatory requirements. While Musk continues to press for market access and accuse established interests of resisting competition, the government insists that all licensed operators must satisfy the same applicable conditions before they can begin operations.