09 October,2026 02:08 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. File pic
Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday dismissed Elon Musk's allegations and said India does not allow monopoly in any sector, including the satellite communications space. he added that the three entities who have received the satellite communications licences can start the operations after meeting the requisite security requirements, according to news agencies.
His remarks come after Musk, in a social media post on X had alleged that his Starlink's satellite communications services were being blocked by certain oligarchs who want to "maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people".
"Let me be very clear. India does not allow a monopoly in any sector. And therefore, even as Satcom is concerned there is not a single licensee that has been chosen. Licenses have been given to everyone who wants to provide these licenses. And today there are three licenses that are out there. There is a lot of conversation about a particular party. But there are three parties that have got licenses," Scindia said at a briefing at India Mobile Congress.
"Let me set the record straight. For us, the Department of Telecommunications, we are technology agnostic... Our job is to be able to provide the bouquet of services to every single customer. It is for the customer to choose in a free market which service he or she prefers, and within that service bouquet, which company's service he or she prefers," he added.
The minister said Musk's Starlink, Reliance Jio's satellite venture Jio Satcom and Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, have secured licences, while Amazon's Kuiper has expressed interest and will need to undergo the established procedure.
"We are very clear on our stand. There are three parties that have got a licence, as and when the government decides the charge system on the revenue basis, that spectrum will be assigned to them, and as and when they individually fulfil security conditions, then they can start operations," Scindia said.
"Revenue charges system is finalised once each one of these parties, party A, B, and C, all three individually based on their achievement of milestones with regard to security concerns and prerequisites have fulfilled the requirements, then obviously they can start operations. But that has to be a compliance that is done by each one of them individually," he added.
He further said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the telecom department are close to a final decision on pricing regime for satcom spectrum.
"Initially whether spectrum will be assigned or auctioned, that decision was taken. Secondly, irrespective post that administrative assignment, what the pricing regime will be. And TRAI and DOT have been in conversations on that. We are close to taking the final decision with respect to that. And the third has to do with security requirements and requisites being followed," he said.
Taking a dig at Congress party amid Rahul Gandhi and Elon Musk's exchange on X, the minister said, "As far as the Congress party is concerned... I don't think they themselves know whether they're going left or right."
He said that the opposition political party initially had a problem with "a certain person getting a licence" and said, "Now they have a problem, and they've allied with that person in terms of why he's not getting a license."
"So I don't know whether they have clarity on where they're going, but that is the case with the Congress, which is to be expected," Scindia said.
The Indian government on Thursday had rejected Musk's allegations and had said the country's authorisation framework for telecom and satellite services was "fair and non-discriminatory" and that any suggestion that it was being applied selectively was "baseless and misconceived."
However, in another Post, Musk said his firm had been complying for the last five years with the government and had said "Ambani is the real boss of India".
"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?" Musk had said.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
