India should challenge Elon Musk's monopoly in space-based communications: Former Niti VC Rajiv Kumar

New Delhi: India can and should challenge Elon Musk's monopoly in space-based communications, former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Sunday.

In a social media post on X, Kumar said the government has USD 145 billion sitting in the USO (Universal Service Obligation) fund.

"This should now be utilised to help Indian telecom network providers like @airtelindia and @reliancejio to urgently put up their satellite networks to compete with @elonmusk Starlink," he said.


Kumar said this will be a far better use than waiting indefinitely for BSNL to develop the required capacity for achieving universal coverage.

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"India can and should challenge Musk's monopoly in space-based communications," he said.