New York : The Centre on Thursday pushed back against Elon Musk's claim that Starlink is being kept out of India by powerful business interests. Without naming Musk or Starlink, the Ministry of Communications said the government had set up a "fair and non-discriminatory" authorisation framework for all telecom services, including satellite communications, and called any suggestion of unequal treatment "baseless and misconceived".

The ministry's statement came a day after Musk's post on X. Reacting to a post about patchy rural connectivity, Musk wrote that Starlink was "being blocked by certain oligarchs" who want to keep a monopolistic hold on Indians, added "You can guess who they are", and called it "a crime against the people of India".

What the government said
The ministry said three companies have been granted licences for satellite communication services, and that security assessment is still under way. Every licensee must meet security conditions before it can seek spectrum assignment. Rejecting the charge of an unfair framework, the government said all three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage.

Starlink's position
Speaking at India Mobile Congress 2026 on October 7, Starlink's Vice President of Business Operations Lauren Dreyer said the company had developed India-specific security controls, built 20 gateway sites in the country and was keeping Indian users' data within India. She said Starlink remains in active negotiations with the government to launch commercial service.

Why the launch is stalled
The row follows a June report that India had held back final approvals for Starlink. Bloomberg's report, as relayed by Indian outlets, said security agencies under the Home Ministry were worried about the use of Starlink terminals during the Iran conflict.

The same hesitation reportedly held up a satellite-spectrum pricing proposal that is needed before any commercial launch. At the time, Starlink said it was in "active and productive discussions" with the government and had received "encouraging feedback".