Musk first made the allegations on Wednesday, accusing unnamed "certain oligarchs" of maintaining a "monopolistic chokehold" on Indian consumers. He then singled out Ambani, whose Reliance conglomerate owns Jio, India's biggest mobile network operator. Musk wrote on X that blocking Starlink was "a crime against the people of India."
Ambani and Reliance Group have not responded to Musk's remarks. The rivalry is complicated by the fact that Starlink has partnered with both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. In March 2025, both companies signed agreements with SpaceX to distribute Starlink equipment and services in India, subject to government approval, and said they could explore sharing network infrastructure.
The row comes as competition grows in India's satellite internet market, with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel also preparing to launch their own services. India's Ministry of Communications responded to Musk's allegations by stating that three operators — Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications — were at broadly the same stage of the approval process, with all three awaiting security clearances and spectrum allocation.
The government said its rules apply equally to all applicants, rejecting the idea of any bias in favour of particular companies.