Elon Musk has escalated his public attack on Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani over Starlink’s stalled launch in India. On October 9 he posted a sarcastic message addressed to “Dear Prime Minister Ambani,” apologizing for not realizing Ambani is the real boss of India, Gulf News reported. It followed a post a day earlier asking whether Ambani is the real boss of the country.
How the row built up
On October 7, Musk accused unnamed oligarchs of blocking Starlink in India, TechCrunch reported, and on October 8 he asked, “Is Ambani the real boss of India?” The Indian government replied that its framework is fair and non-discriminatory, and that Starlink and two other licensed operators are at broadly the same stage, with security checks underway for all three. We covered that reply in India Rejects Musk’s Claim That Oligarchs Are Blocking Starlink.
The latest posts
On October 10, Musk shared screenshots of two older reports about Reliance-linked political funding, according to The Tribune. The outlets we read did not verify those reports, and Reliance has not publicly responded. Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said India does not allow monopolies, and that Starlink, Jio Satcom and Eutelsat OneWeb hold satellite licenses, The Tribune reports.
Reactions
Actor Kamal Haasan wrote that India is “a democracy, not a colony,” Business Today reported. Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu also answered Musk, saying the government does not tolerate monopolies, The Tribune reported.
Our take: the posts are loud, but the open question is quiet: when India will price and allocate satellite spectrum. The minister said a pricing decision is close. Musk’s screenshots are old reports he has not tied to Starlink’s approval, so treat them as claims about Reliance, not findings.
