Musk blames 'certain oligarchs' for delay in Starlink's entry into India

Musk alleges unnamed oligarchs are blocking Starlink's India entry, hours after a SpaceX executive said its infrastructure was ready and operations awaited official approvals

SpaceX and Tesla founder and American billionaire Elon Musk blamed ‘certain oligarchs’ for blocking his satellite internet company Starlink’s entry into India, hours after a top executive said at a public forum that the company had invested in the Indian market and was ready for operations as soon as it got the official nod.

 

"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!" Musk said in a post on X late Wednesday evening. Musk, who also owns social media platform X, did not name any company or group.

  

His response was to a post by @DodgeDesigner that mentioned how India needs Starlink, with its ability to offer connectivity to the remotest regions of the country, and that the government should complete the remaining clearances and spectrum allocation. "Indian needs Starlink. 11,256 of India's listed villages still lacked 4G coverage as of May 2026… BharatNet had laid over 850,000 route-km of fibre and made about 221,000 Gram Panchayats service-ready. However, its Points of Presence were reported operational at only 80,472 Gram Panchayats in June 2026," the DodgeDesigner post said.

 

Starlink is among the three applicants for offering satellite broadband services in India, the other two being Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb (now Eutelsat Group) and Reliance Industries-backed Jio Satellite Communications, a subsidiary of Reliance Jio, which have been awarded licences but await security clearances. Jio is separately building its own low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, which will rival global players like Starlink and Amazon Leo. The latter is also eyeing an India entry.

 

The Department of Telecommunications has approved a spectrum charge of 5 per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), which is yet to be approved by the Union Cabinet. Commercial launch by any of the companies would depend on government approvals and clearances, which are yet to be granted. India is seeking assurances of control over the satellite systems in case of exigencies, according to people aware of the developments.

 

Musk’s post came hours after Lauren Dreyer, vice-president of SpaceX, said that the company was ready for the Indian market as soon as India gave it the green signal. She added that the company had built its operations specifically for India’s security requirements.

 

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!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2026

“We are standing ready to serve India once India is ready. We’re ready to work with the government. We are ready to work with operators and with industry to this end. We are ready to help Prime Minister Modi achieve his vision of 100 per cent connectivity throughout India — a vision all of our company, including Elon, shares,” Lauren Dreyer, vice-president of Starlink business operations at SpaceX, said at the India Mobile Congress on Wednesday morning. “Hopefully, next time I address the Congress, the government’s work will be complete, and Starlink will be authorised and ready,” she said.

 

Starlink is awaiting the Indian government’s security clearance and approval for foreign direct investment, having received permission from IN-SPACe and a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite licence. Dreyer said Starlink had already made investments in India, with over 20 gateway sites ready to begin operations.

 

The company was also ensuring that its business met security requirements and other regulations needed to operate in the country, she said.

 

Dreyer noted that Starlink had been building relationships with industry, including tie-ups with Airtel and Jio, and partnering with state governments over the past five years to better understand the market and prepare for the start of operations. “We have built our Starlink operations specifically for India in recognition of Indian security requirements and other regulations, establishing controls at every layer for India and keeping Indian user data within India. We have already made the investment and built the existing ground infrastructure here — 20 gateway sites comprising hundreds of antennas — and we have established the operations to be ready to serve India,” she said.

 

She also noted that the digital divide must be narrowed and that this would not be possible by leaving out a substantial portion of the population. “But there's no one of us that can solve this challenging problem of the digital divide. It takes all of us thinking about how to apply the best technology in the places that it serves best. As Starlink serves over 170 countries around the world and growing, our consistent theme has been to work very closely with governments, private industry, and all of those looking to connect people who need reliable connectivity and connect and connected around the world,” she added.

 

Terming India’s achievements in digital connectivity ‘extraordinary’, with millions connected and affordable data at scale, she flagged that the last mile remained. “It's the most challenging to connect. It's also where Starlink offers the biggest potential to help accelerate the speed to connect 100% of India. With Starlink, people can get connected within minutes, not years,” she added.