Elon Musk has escalated his war of words with Mukesh Ambani, accusing the Indian billionaire’s supporters of “absurd hypocrisy and hyperbole” as his Starlink satellite internet service remains locked out of India after five years of trying.
In a series of posts on X over the weekend, Musk argued that competition from Starlink would benefit ordinary Indians by expanding consumer choice, and vowed to price the service affordably. “Obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable,” he wrote. He added that while Ambani’s profits might fall, “he is not going out of business.”
‘Prime Minister Ambani’
The latest broadside follows days of increasingly personal attacks. On Friday, Musk addressed Ambani as “Dear Prime Minister Ambani” and the “real boss of India”, alleging that powerful business interests were blocking Starlink to protect what he called their “monopolistic chokehold” on the country’s telecom market. He had earlier accused unnamed “oligarchs” of obstructing the launch, calling it a “crime against the people of India” — claims made without supporting evidence.
India’s communications ministry has rejected the claims, saying its satellite-communications framework is “fair and non-discriminatory” and that Starlink and two other licensed operators are all at “broadly the same regulatory stage”, with security assessments still to be completed before spectrum can be sought.
IPO week raises the stakes
The timing is pointed. Jio Platforms, the telecom arm majority-owned by Ambani’s Reliance, is days away from what is expected to be India’s largest-ever public offering, targeting a valuation of about $106 billion. Musk has suggested the government is slow-walking Starlink’s approvals to favour the market leader.
With more than a billion internet subscribers at stake and mobile data among the cheapest on earth, the fight over who connects India’s next hundred million users is only getting louder.
