Doubling down on his earlier claim that his satellite communications company Starlink’s launch was being delayed in India due to “certain oligarchs” to maintain their monopoly, billionaire Elon Musk has said that the satcom service was yet to be greenlit for operations despite complying with “every single law and requirement of the government of India”. He ended his post by asking: “Is Ambani the real boss of India,” in an apparent reference to the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries.“Starlink is licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India, so why still no license? Is Ambani the real boss of India,” Musk said in a post on social media platform X.Reliance Jio, which is also vying to launch a competing service to Starlink, did not respond to an immediate request for comment.His comments come after the Indian government rejected his initial charge of discrimination against Starlink, was yet to clear any applicant to launch satellite communication services in the country, and that service providers were required to showcase compliance with India’s security requirements.Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said that the Ministry of Home Affairs is looking into security-related issues with satcom services.Also Read | Centre rejects Elon Musk’s claim of ‘oligarchs’ blocking Starlink’s India launchOn Wednesday, Musk took to social media, blaming “certain oligarchs” for blocking Starlink in the country, and calling it a “crime against the people of India”.“Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are… This is a crime against the people of India!” Musk said on X. “Starlink in India would enable high-speed, affordable internet connectivity for those who can’t afford current prices or who don’t have a connection at all!” he added in another post.Story continues below this adIn a subsequent post, he said, “Starlink will be of great help to areas of India that have bad or no internet and even no mobile coverage…” While prices for the service are not currently officially advertised, a temporary placeholder price of Rs 8,600 per month appeared on Starlink’s Indian website last year.Responding to the allegation, the Ministry of Communications said, “The Government has put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services… Under the terms and conditions of licence, every such licensee is required to demonstrate compliance with security conditions…aimed at ensuring that services provided meet various security requirements to ensure safety of all users and their data,” the ministry said, without explicitly naming Musk.“Security assessment as part of this process is currently underway in respect of all the three licensees. As and when this process is completed for a licenced entity, it may proceed to the next step of seeking assignment of spectrum. At present, all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage. As such, the suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived,” it added.Musk’s comments come amid continued regulatory delays to Starlink’s launch in India, primarily over security concerns, even though the company says it has tailored its operations to meet the country’s security and regulatory requirements.Story continues below this adStarlink is among the operators that have secured GMPCS (global mobile personal communication by satellite) licences and other statutory approvals needed to launch satellite communication, or satcom, services in the country. Others who have received it include Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, and Jio Satellite Communications Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms. Jeff Bezos-owned Amazon Leo is also in contention for a licence.Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal — whose company Eutelsat OneWeb is also vying to launch satcom services — dismissed Musk’s claims saying that even his venture was awaiting necessary approvals to start operations in India.Last July, Starlink had received what industry executives said was the last regulatory approval needed to launch the service in India from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) granted authorisation to the satcom company for its satellite constellation. Before that, the company had received an operator licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), three years after first applying for one.Despite the regulatory clearance, it is understood the government is yet to green-light formal launch of these services over security concerns. The concern particularly stems from anxieties around foreign satcom operators potentially bypassing Indian gateways to offer their services, an event when the government might lose control over the service.Story continues below this adThe delay in Starlink’s final security clearance comes as Reliance Jio is building a sovereign low earth satellite constellation in India, and is considering a 1,600–1,650 satellite network costing an estimated $10–15 billion.