Elon Musk has pledged to make Starlink affordable in India as the satellite internet service prepares to compete with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio, intensifying a public dispute between the two billionaires ahead of Jio’s parent company seeking the country’s largest-ever initial public offering.
Jio Platforms, which owns the telecoms business, is targeting a valuation of 106 billion US dollars through the offering. Its satellite venture, like SpaceX-owned Starlink, is awaiting final security clearance before beginning operations in India.
Musk did not set out a proposed price for Starlink in a country where mobile data costs about 7.74 rupees, or eight US cents, per gigabyte.
“Obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable,” he said in a post on X.
He added: “The reality is that competition would greatly benefit the average citizen in India by giving them more choices, as it always does. Ambani’s profits will be lower, but he is not going out of business.”
Starlink in India faces security clearance wait
Low-cost data was central to Jio’s rise in the Indian market. Musk has also used a similar approach in countries including Kenya to challenge established telecoms operators, while SpaceX plans to enter the mobile carrier market in the United States.
The latest comments follow a series of posts in which Musk has alleged that India’s government and Ambani are delaying Starlink’s entry to protect Jio, the country’s leading telecoms operator.
India’s government has rejected any suggestion of bias, saying the three satellite ventures seeking to launch — including Starlink and Jio’s service — are all waiting for final security clearance.
Musk’s criticism represents a change in tone from his previously warm public relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Friday, he addressed Ambani as “Prime Minister Ambani” and asked whether he would “consider allowing Starlink to compete”.
Reliance has not responded to Musk’s remarks.
