Reliance Industries welcomes Starlink competition while urging compliance with Indian laws

Mumbai: Reliance Industries doesn't fear competition from other satellite communications providers, but all corporations including US-based Starlink must comply with Indian laws, the Mukesh Ambani-owned company said Friday.

In a statement responding to "recent remarks about Reliance and the Indian market", the company said its own satellite services are awaiting government approvals. "That openness rests on the rule of law," RIL said. "As the Government of India has stated, it applies the same process to every applicant, Indian or foreign. Jio's own satellite services await clearances."

Reliance explicitly welcomed Starlink's participation in India's satellite communications market, while calling for compliance with the country's regulatory framework.


"We welcome competition in satellite communications, including Starlink," it said. "Every player, Jio included, must serve the people of India and abide by the laws and policies of the land."

RIL said India's openness to investment and innovation, both domestic and international, has supported the growth of Indian enterprises, including its own. "At Reliance, we have never feared competition," it said. "We see it as the truest test of who serves the customer best."

Reliance pointed to Jio's entry into India's crowded telecom market in 2016, saying the company had started without a single customer and built a base of more than 530 million customers over a decade. It highlighted that Jio had given Indians some of the world's best digital infrastructure and most affordable data.

RIL's statement comes days after SpaceX founder Elon Musk alleged that "unnamed oligarchs" were blocking Starlink's entry in India. In a scathing post on X last week, Musk wrote: "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!"

Later, the communications ministry also stated that satellite communication operators must demonstrate compliance with security conditions before moving to the next step of seeking spectrum assignment.

OneWeb India Communications, Jio Satellite Communications and Starlink Satellite Communications are the three companies granted unified licences with authorisation for Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite services. (GMPCS).

Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal also said earlier this week that even his satcom venture, Eutelsat OneWeb, is awaiting Indian government clearances for starting operations.