Musk escalates attack on Ambani; shares reports on Reliance-linked political donations

Elon Musk intensified his criticism of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, sharing media reports alleging that a Reliance-funded firm helped promote BJP campaigns on social media and that a Reliance-linked company made substantial political donations to the ruling party.

Musk's latest post on X featured a 2022 Al Jazeera report titled How a Reliance-funded firm boosts BJP's campaigns on Facebook and an archived 2024 report by The Indian Express on Qwik Supply. The latter reported that the Reliance-linked company donated Rs 385 crore to the BJP and Rs 25 crore to the Shiv Sena through electoral bonds.

The posts come amid an escalating dispute over the delay in launching Musk's Starlink satellite broadband services in India. Musk has accused powerful business interests of attempting to prevent the service from entering the Indian market to protect their dominance.

Reliance has not publicly responded to Musk's allegations. The government, meanwhile, has maintained that India's authorisation framework for telecom and satellite services is fair and non-discriminatory, dismissing claims of selective application as baseless and misconceived.

Musk calls Ambani 'Prime Minister Ambani'

A few hours before sharing the reports, Musk addressed Ambani as "Prime Minister Ambani" and accused him of protecting a monopoly. He also questioned whether the industrialist would allow Starlink to compete in India.

"Dear Prime Minister Ambani, Please accept my humble apologies for not realising that you are the real boss of India. Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete?" Musk wrote on X on Friday.

He argued that large parts of India remain without internet access, depriving children of educational opportunities and small businesses of the ability to reach global markets. Starlink, he said, could improve their lives.

In a subsequent post, Musk claimed that Starlink had played a crucial role in saving lives during natural disasters worldwide when other communication systems failed. Allowing the service to operate in India, he added, could help save lives across the country.

Musk had earlier questioned why Starlink had yet to receive the necessary approvals to begin operations in India, despite being licensed in more than 165 countries.

"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?" he wrote in an earlier post on X.

Scindia says India does not permit monopolies

Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday rejected suggestions that India allows monopolies in any sector. He said three companies had already secured satellite communication (satcom) licences and could begin operations after meeting the prescribed security requirements and other milestones.

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) in Delhi, Scindia said the Department of Telecommunications was technology-agnostic and aimed to provide consumers with a range of services from which they could choose freely.

"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," he said.

The three entities that have secured licences are Musk's Starlink, Reliance Jio's satellite venture Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb. Amazon's Project Kuiper has also expressed interest and will have to follow the established procedure, Scindia said.

He added that spectrum would be assigned once the government finalised the revenue-based charging system and that individual companies could begin operations after fulfilling the security conditions.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Department of Telecommunications are nearing a final decision on the pricing framework for satcom spectrum, the minister said.

Scindia criticises Congress over Musk's exchange with Rahul Gandhi

Scindia also criticised the Congress amid an exchange on X between Rahul Gandhi and Musk.

The minister said the Congress appeared unclear about its position, alleging that the party had initially objected to a particular company receiving a licence but was now questioning the delay in granting it approval.

"I don't think they themselves know whether they're going left or right," Scindia said, adding that the party's position had shifted.

Musk's criticism of Ambani and India's satellite internet authorisation process comes as the India Mobile Congress, the country's annual telecom event, is under way in Delhi.

PTI