Reliance Hits Back at Musk, Says Jio's Own Satellite Services Still Await Clearances

Reliance Industries has broken its silence on Elon Musk's campaign over Starlink's delayed India launch, issuing a formal statement on Friday that rejects the suggestion it is holding back competition in satellite internet.

The company said the Government of India applies the same approval process to every applicant, whether Indian or foreign, and pointed out that Jio's own satellite services are also still waiting for clearances. It added that it welcomes competition in satellite communications, naming Starlink specifically, but that every operator, Jio included, must serve Indian customers and follow the country's laws and policies.

How the row escalated

The statement responds to a series of increasingly personal posts by Musk on X over the past week and a half. In early October he claimed Starlink was being blocked by unnamed oligarchs seeking to protect a monopoly over Indian internet users, calling it a crime against the people of India. In a later post he addressed Mukesh Ambani as the real boss of India and asked whether he would open the market to competition, arguing that satellite broadband could transform access for children and small businesses in unconnected areas.

Starlink says it is operationally ready to begin services in India but is still waiting on the remaining government approvals.

Reliance had stayed quiet until now. At the India Mobile Congress last week, Jio chairman Akash Ambani declined to comment on Musk's remarks, saying the company wanted to keep its head down and deliver for Indian consumers, while noting rapid progress on Jio's own low-earth-orbit plans without giving a launch date.

Reliance's argument

Beyond the point about clearances, the statement leaned on Jio's own history. Reliance noted that Jio entered India's crowded telecom market in 2016 with no customers and now serves more than 530 million subscribers, presenting that as proof the group thrives on competition rather than fearing it.

Reliance is not the only incumbent pushing back. Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said earlier this week that his group applied for satellite permissions about five years ago, has had ground infrastructure ready for three years and still lacks approval, quipping that he would like to get his licence at least a few days before Musk.

Why it matters

The exchange goes to the heart of a long-running policy fight. Jio has argued that satellite spectrum should be auctioned to keep a level playing field with terrestrial operators, while Musk has pushed for administrative allocation, which global satellite operators favour. Both Jio and Airtel signed distribution agreements with Starlink in 2025, which makes the current public sparring all the more striking.

The timing is also sensitive for Reliance. Jio Platforms' record IPO opens on October 21, and investors will be weighing how quickly satellite broadband could become a competitive threat, or an opportunity, for India's largest telecom operator. For now, every major contender, by its own account, is waiting on the same regulators. Our earlier report covered Starlink's fresh application to India's space regulator.

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