Starlink India Delay: What Musk Said About Ambani, What the Government Replied, and What's Still Pending
This is a developing story. It was last updated on the night of October 9, 2026, after Musk’s 10:33 pm IST post, and we will update it as things change. Where outlets disagree, we say so. We attribute every claim to whoever made it and do not take a side.
Starlink has been trying to launch in India for years and still cannot sell service. Between October 7 and 9, 2026, Elon Musk publicly blamed unnamed “oligarchs”, asked “Is Ambani the real boss of India?”, and then addressed a post directly to “Prime Minister Ambani”. The government rejected the suggestion, and the Leader of the Opposition joined in. Here is what each party actually said, and what the approval process looks like.
What happened, in order
Wednesday, October 7. At the India Mobile Congress, Starlink’s Lauren Dreyer said the company has built 20 gateway sites in India with hundreds of antennas, that Indian user data will stay in India, and that Starlink is ready once the government is. She said she hopes Starlink will be authorised by the next congress.
At 8:53 pm IST the same day, Musk posted on X, quoting a post by @cb_doge about rural connectivity in India: “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!” He named no one in the post and offered no evidence.
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 …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2026
This is a crime against the people of India!
Thursday, October 8, morning. At 9:19 am IST, the Ministry of Communications published a press release through the Press Information Bureau titled “India’s regulatory framework for satellite communication services is fair and non-discriminatory”. It said “a post is being circulated in social media” suggesting the framework is applied in a discriminatory manner, and did not name Musk or Starlink. It said telecom licences have been granted to three satellite (GMPCS) operators, that every licensee must demonstrate compliance with security conditions, and that the security assessment is “currently under way in respect of all the three licensees”. Once that is complete, a licensee “may proceed to the next step of seeking assignment of spectrum”. It said “at present, all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage” and that the suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is “baseless and misconceived”. Minister of State Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said the pending clearance is with the Home Ministry and is “not specific to any one company”.
Thursday, October 8, evening. At 6:55 pm IST, Musk posted: “Starlink is licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India, so why still no license? Is Ambani the real boss of India?” The post quoted another user’s post, by Dr Aniruddha Malpani (@malpani), which said: “The government is more interested in protecting the interests of crony capitalists than of citizens”. Musk did not say which Ambani he meant, though Mukesh Ambani chairs Reliance Industries, which owns Jio.
Starlink is licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India, so why still no license?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 8, 2026
Is Ambani the real boss of India?
Rahul Gandhi. The Congress leader replied to Musk on X: “Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy.” He did not name anyone. The remark may be a reference to Gautam Adani, though Gandhi did not say so. We found no public response from the Adani group or the BJP at the time of writing. Musk replied: “Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling.”
Reliance and Jio. No formal response had been reported from Reliance to the October 7 and 8 posts as of the coverage we found. Akash Ambani, speaking about Jio at the congress, said the company wants to stay “heads down” and deliver value to Indian consumers, and that Jio is making progress on its own satellite broadband stack (Business Today). Reports differ on whether he declined to comment on Musk’s remarks or said he had not seen them. Sunil Mittal said Airtel-backed OneWeb is “waiting too” (Scroll).
Friday, October 9. At 10:33 pm IST, Musk posted a message that opened “Dear Prime Minister Ambani,” and went on: “Please accept my humble apologies for not realizing that you are the real boss of India.” It continued: “Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete?” He then wrote that there are “many areas of India, as there are in all countries, with no Internet access, which denies children the opportunity for education and for small businesses the opportunity to sell their goods to a global market”, and that “Starlink would change their lives for the better.” The post sets out no evidence for the accusation. We found no response to it from Ambani, Reliance, Jio or the government at the time of writing.
Dear Prime Minister Ambani,
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2026
Please accept my humble apologies for not realizing that you are the real boss of India.
Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete?
There are many areas of India, as there are in all countries, with no Internet access, which denies children the opportunity for education and for small businesses the opportunity to sell their goods to a global market. Starlink would change their lives for the better.
Thank you 🙏
Does Starlink have a licence or not?
Both statements are partly right, which is why this is confusing. Starlink holds some Indian authorisations but not the ones needed to start commercial service.
| Approval | Status |
|---|---|
| GMPCS licence (DoT) | Granted June 2025. Allows market preparation, not sales |
| IN-SPACe authorisation | Granted July 8, 2025 for the first-generation constellation of 4,408 satellites. A second-generation application is pending after an earlier one was rejected |
| Spectrum | Not yet assigned. The Digital Communications Commission backed a charge of 5% of adjusted gross revenue (4% for rural and remote service) on Sep 3; it still needs the inter-ministerial panel and the Cabinet |
| FDI approval | Needed by Starlink; OneWeb and Jio Satellite reportedly do not need it |
| Final security clearance | Pending with the Home Ministry, per the minister |
The ministry says three operators hold licences and are in security assessment before they can seek spectrum. Its release did not name them; they are Starlink, Jio’s satellite arm and OneWeb. Starlink says it has complied with everything asked of it. Both can be true at once, because licensing and final clearance are separate steps.
The security question
The government has not published what its assessment covers, so the specifics here come from reporting. In June 2026, Bloomberg reported that security agencies under the Home Ministry had withheld final clearance after SpaceX allowed Starlink access inside Iran without a licence to operate there, according to coverage by MediaNama. Starlink’s Dreyer called such stories “misleading” and based on “unsubstantiated claims from anonymous sources”, and said the company remains in “active and productive discussions” with the government. We found no official Indian statement confirming or denying the report.
Separately, Indian forces have reported finding Starlink equipment in a drug seizure in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in an army operation in Manipur since 2024. Musk has said Starlink beams are “turned off over India” and that claims of use by militants are “absolutely false”. He first said this in December 2024, and repeated it on October 8. Other reporting, including from the Guardian as cited by Deccan Herald, quoted a security source saying Starlink may work in some Manipur areas close to the Myanmar border. A recovered terminal does not by itself show it connected to the network. This remains unresolved.
For how Starlink’s network is built and why gateways, laser links and geofencing matter to India’s rules, see our technical guide: How Starlink Works.
Where Ambani and Jio come in
The background is a 2024 dispute over how satellite spectrum should be allocated. Reliance argued that an auction was needed for a level playing field (Tribune). In October 2024 the government chose administrative allocation instead, and Musk wrote on X that he “much appreciated” the decision.
Then the relationship changed. In March 2025, both Jio and Airtel signed deals to distribute Starlink in India, on condition that SpaceX received its own authorisations. Al Jazeera describes the cooperation as having “appeared to have soured”. We found no public announcement that the Jio-SpaceX partnership has ended. Reliance’s own satellite venture holds one of the three licences and would compete with Starlink if it launches.
Nothing in the reporting we reviewed shows evidence that any company is blocking Starlink. Musk has asserted it, most directly in his October 9 post accusing Ambani of “monopolistic exploitation”, and the government has denied that its framework is unfair or discriminatory. We have no way to confirm either position from public documents.
What we know and don’t know
Known:
- The posts and replies above were made, on the dates reported.
- Starlink is not yet selling service in India and has no launch date.
- Spectrum pricing still needs Cabinet approval, and security clearance and FDI approval are pending.
- The government says all three licensees are in the same process.
Not known:
- What the security assessment covers, or what would resolve it.
- Whether the Bloomberg report about Iran accurately reflects the Home Ministry’s reasoning. Starlink disputes it and the government has not commented.
- Who Musk meant by “oligarchs” on October 7. He did not name anyone in that post, and named Ambani in his posts of October 8 and 9.
- How long approvals will take.
What readers should not rely on
Starlink has not announced official Indian pricing. Starlink clarified that a monthly price of ₹8,600 that briefly appeared on its India website in December 2025 was dummy test data from a website glitch. Figures like ₹2,500 to ₹3,500 a month circulating in the press are reports, not company numbers. Starlink has said it is not taking orders in India, and the service is not yet available. Be wary of anyone selling a “Starlink India pre-booking”, and check Starlink’s official channels.
What happens next
The next formal steps are Cabinet approval of the spectrum charge, the Home Ministry’s security clearance, and FDI approval for Starlink. Dreyer said she hopes for authorisation by next year’s India Mobile Congress, per reports. We will update this post when any of these moves.