Musk calls Ambani India's 'prime minister' as Starlink launch stays blocked

Musk escalates the attacks

Elon Musk has intensified his public campaign against Mukesh Ambani, chairperson of Reliance Industries, as SpaceX continues to wait for permission to launch Starlink commercially in India. According to TechCrunch, Musk mocked Ambani in a post on X on Friday, calling him the country's "prime minister" — a jab implying the tycoon wields outsized influence over the Indian government — and accused him of standing in the way of Starlink competing in the market.

Musk argued that Starlink could deliver connectivity to parts of India that remain offline, expand learning opportunities for children and help small businesses reach customers worldwide. He then asked whether Ambani would "consider allowing Starlink to compete" rather than, as Musk put it, maintaining a "monopolistic exploitation" of Indian consumers. Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, did not respond to a request for comment, TechCrunch reports.

The post capped a week of escalating rhetoric. Earlier, Musk accused unnamed "oligarchs" of blocking Starlink's India entry to protect their own business interests. On Thursday he asked pointedly: "Is Ambani the real boss of India?"

New Delhi rejects the claims

India's Ministry of Communications has pushed back. In a Thursday statement reported by TechCrunch, the ministry described the country's satellite communications framework as "fair and non-discriminatory" and said Starlink, along with two other licensed satellite operators, is undergoing security assessments that must conclude before satellite spectrum can be granted. All three companies are at "broadly the same regulatory stage," the ministry said, rejecting any suggestion that Starlink is being singled out.

India's telecom minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, reinforced that message on Friday, saying the country "does not allow a monopoly in any sector."

Rivals are queued at the same gate

The backdrop is more tangled than a simple outsider-versus-incumbent framing. According to TechCrunch, SpaceX signed distribution agreements last year with both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, India's second-largest carrier, to offer Starlink once approvals came through. Starlink has since secured key regulatory clearances but still lacks the final go-ahead from New Delhi to begin commercial operations.

Meanwhile, Jio and Airtel are building satellite internet offerings of their own: Jio through a joint venture with Luxembourg-based SES, and Airtel as a major shareholder in Eutelsat OneWeb. All of the players are effectively waiting on the same regulatory process to finish.

The feud also has a policy history. Starlink and Reliance Jio previously clashed over how satellite spectrum should be allocated in India, with Musk's company favouring an administrative assignment and Jio lobbying for an auction. New Delhi ultimately sided with the administrative approach.

Tesla's parallel struggles

Musk's frustrations in India extend beyond satellite internet. TechCrunch notes that Tesla launched in the country last year after long anticipation, but registered just 699 vehicle deliveries in its first twelve months, according to data cited by Electrek. Steep import duties pushed the Model Y's launch price in India to nearly double its US figure, and although Tesla cut prices earlier this year, its cars remain considerably more expensive there than in the American market.

Why it matters

India, the world's most populous nation with more than a billion internet users, is one of the largest untapped prizes in global connectivity, and satellite broadband is a plausible way to reach rural and remote regions that terrestrial networks struggle to serve. A public feud between Musk and Ambani — whose conglomerate runs India's largest telecom operator and works with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on major projects — shows how market entry in India often runs through entrenched domestic power brokers as much as through regulators. For SpaceX, the outcome will shape Starlink's growth in a market it has pursued for years; for Indian consumers and small businesses, it could determine how quickly, and from whom, satellite internet finally arrives.