“Our job is to be able to provide the bouquet of services to every single customer. It is for the customer to choose, in a free market, which service he or she prefers, and within that service bouquet, which company’s service he or she prefers.”
Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday (October 9, 2026) that India “does not allow a monopoly in any sector,” referring to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s allegations that “oligarchs” were blocking Starlink service’s availability in India. “For us in the Department of Telecommunications [DoT], we are technology agnostic,” Mr. Scindia said.
On why the revenue charge system — the key step before Starlink can operate on top of the security clearance — was delayed, Mr.
Scindia said, “You say something in a snap, and DoT quickly announces it, and then six months later we will be asked why we announced it in such a hurry.”
Mr. Scindia reiterated the Department of Telecommunications’ statement from Thursday (October 8), asserting that all three satellite Internet licence applicants, Starlink, Jio and Bharti-backed OneWeb, were at the same stage.
“Once the revenue charges system is finalised — once each one of these parties, party A, B and C, all three individually, based on their achievement of milestones about security concerns and prerequisites, have fulfilled the requirements — then obviously they can start operations,” Mr. Scindia said. Earlier reporting noted: “India Doesn’t Allow Monopoly In Any Sector”: Minister On Musk’s Claims “India Doesn’t Allow Monopoly In Any Sector”: Minister On Musk’s Claims “India Doesn’t Allow Monopoly In Any Sector”: Minister On Musk’s Claims Earlier reporting noted: Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday underscored that “India does not allow a monopoly in any sector”, following a series of posts by SpaceX and Starlink boss Elon Musk who had claimed the company’s licences were being blocked by vested interests.
Earlier reporting noted: The government and Elon Musk engaged in a verbal spat on Thursday after the Telecom Department rejected allegations that Starlink’s satellite internet services were being blocked by domestic business interests.
