Musk’s Attack Over Starlink’s Delayed India Launch Brings Allegations of Corporate Favouritism Into Political Spotlight

Elon Musk’s statellite internet company Starlink has been waiting for India’s go-ahead for years, and on October 7, Musk turned that grievance into a political challenge to the Narendra Modi government. On X, which he owns, Musk first accused unnamed “oligarchs” of blocking Starlink’s entry. Then he named his target, asking whether Mukesh Ambani, whose Jio has a satellite arm of its own, was “the real boss of India”. Later, he sarcastically addressed Ambani as “Prime Minister Ambani”. Then came the screenshots of older media reports alleging that Reliance-linked firms had boosted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaigns and donated to the party.

Musk’s remarks echoed a charge the leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has made for years: that the BJP government favours a handful of corporate groups. Gandhi tweeted, “Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy,” in an apparent reference to Gautam Adani. Musk replied: “Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling.”

The government rejects the charge. But the political sparring raises a bigger question: is Starlink being held back to protect domestic businesses or are security concerns behind the delay?

Starlink’s journey in India has been bumpy from the start. It began accepting pre-orders for its devices in November 2021 and by January 2022, over 5,000 people had signed up. According to media reports, it was aiming to put 200,000 devices in India by December 2022. But Starlink had no licence. The Department of Telecommunications directed it to stop taking bookings. Starlink then returned thousands of pre-order payments.

The company formally applied for a licence in November 2022. By then, its main competitors, Reliance’s Jio Satellite Communications and Bharti Airtel-backed OneWeb, already held Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite licences. Starlink’s own came in June 2025, after a letter of intent in May. The space regulator IN-SPACe cleared its first-generation constellation in July and provisional spectrum for trials followed in September.

However, the three firms still needed to satisfy security requirements and secure the necessary spectrum approvals. On October 9, communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said all three licensees were waiting on two things: a final decision on how satellite spectrum is priced and the home ministry’s security clearance, which each company must earn individually.

Musk calls the delay an obstacle to competition and says Starlink has spent five years complying with every Indian requirement.

The security concerns are not abstract. In November 2024, police in Andaman and Nicobar seized a Myanmar-origin boat carrying over 6,000 kg of suspected methamphetamine. A Starlink Mini terminal was found aboard. Investigators suspected the crew used it to navigate and communicate where mobile networks do not reach. In a separate operation in Manipur, security forces recovered a Starlink-branded dish and router alongside weapons and ammunition. The router reportedly carried the marking “RPF/PLA”, for the Revolutionary People’s Front and its armed wing, the People’s Liberation Army, a Meitei insurgent group.

Musk has said Starlink’s beams were switched off over India and had never been active there. The recoveries do not show that either device connected to Starlink’s network. They do raise a practical problem for the authorities: how terminals get into the country and whether they can find connectivity without permission.

“A regulator asked to trust a switch it cannot see will ask for proof and asking for that proof is due diligence,” says Sanchit Vir Gogia, founder and chief executive officer of Greyhound Research.

India has restricted Chinese telecom equipment before. Citing national security, it required operators in December 2020 to buy network gear only from government-approved suppliers, which has effectively shut Huawei and ZTE out.

“India wants to know who can switch a network on and off over its territory and whose law governs interception. It also wants to know where Indian data is held and who else may use it,” says Gogia.

On October 13, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, urged the Centre to deny Starlink permission, arguing that authorities sometimes need to suspend the internet during law-and-order situations. It questioned whether Starlink’s technology would let service be restricted in specific areas on the government’s orders. Its co-convenor, Ashwani Mahajan, also warned that Starlink’s laser links could carry traffic around Indian gateways, complicating lawful monitoring.

In 2022–23, foreign investors put a net $27.99 billion into India. Two years later, the figure was under $1 billion. It has since recovered to $6.95 billion. Musk’s attack lands while India is courting global capital, particularly for manufacturing and technology.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on July 28, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary blamed subdued net foreign direct investment (FDI) on higher repatriation and disinvestment by foreign investors, along with rising overseas investment by Indian companies. The Reserve Bank of India called the pattern a sign of a mature market, where investors can enter and exit freely. Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas questioned that explanation in Parliament. If investors were simply booking profits, he said, they would normally retain or expand their holdings.

A company weighing a large investment asks more than how big the market is. It wants to know whether rules are applied consistently, approvals follow a set process and competition is settled on commercial merit. Allegations of favouritism, even when unproven, can affect how investors perceive a market. Musk’s attack has put the government’s claim of a level playing field under scrutiny. And he is not alone.

In a September report, the State Department flagged corruption risks, regulatory uncertainty and foreign investors’ unequal treatment as barriers to FDI in India. It said that US businesses report actual corruption and the anticipation of potential corruption—particularly in regulatory systems—as barriers to FDI.

Pressure Points

The Starlink row also brings India-US ties into focus, especially given Musk’s closeness to US President Donald Trump. As per media reports, Musk was the biggest known donor to the Republicans in the 2026 mid-term elections. In May 2025, the Washington Post reported that the US was pressing countries facing US tariffs to clear hurdles for Starlinks while trade talks were underway. In India, it said, officials had sped through approvals in the understanding that it could help them cement a trade deal.

India and the US announced a framework for an interim trade agreement in February 2026, but negotiations remain unfinished. India has agreed to cut or eliminate tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of farm products, ease non-tariff barriers on agriculture, medical devices and communications equipment, and negotiate rules on digital trade. In return, the US cut its tariff on most Indian goods from 50 to 18 per cent. Ties remain strained over tariffs and US pressure on India over purchases of Russian oil.

In its October 8 statement, the Ministry of Communications called the suggestion that its framework is discriminatory “baseless”. It described the framework as fair, adding that Starlink, Jio Satellite and OneWeb are at broadly the same regulatory stage. On October 14, Sunil Mittal said Bharti-backed OneWeb had applied five years ago and were still waiting. Reliance said on X that it welcomed competition, including from Starlink, and that Jio’s own satellite services were awaiting clearances.

India can protect both national security and foreign investment. But it has to show the same standards apply to all operators. That, more than the exchange between a billionaire and the Opposition, will decide what Starlink gets from India.

Vikash Tripathi is Senior Correspondent Outlook Business