A Starlink Mini dish on a home rooftop. Credit: Starlink/X
Elon Musk posted a mock open letter on X on Friday addressed to “Prime Minister Ambani,” apologizing for not realizing he is “the real boss of India” and asking him to let Starlink compete in the country.
Musk published the letter at 10:03 a.m. PT. After the apology, it accuses the recipient of wanting to “maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India,” then asks: “would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete?”
The rest of the letter makes the case for access. Many parts of India have no internet, Musk wrote, which “denies children the opportunity for education and for small businesses the opportunity to sell their goods to a global market.” Three minutes later he replied to himself with a second argument, saying Starlink “has proven to be essential for saving lives during natural disasters throughout the world, when all other communications systems have failed.”
India’s actual prime minister is Narendra Modi, and the letter never gives a first name. Mukesh Ambani chairs Reliance Industries, which owns Jio, India’s largest mobile carrier, and Reliance also has its own satellite venture, Jio Satellite Communications, with SES.
Friday’s letter caps three days of escalating posts. On Wednesday, after a Starlink executive told India Mobile Congress the company stands ready to serve India, Musk said Starlink was being blocked by “certain oligarchs.” On Thursday morning he asked outright: “Is Ambani the real boss of India?” The letter treats that question as settled.
India’s government had already rejected that premise a day earlier. In a statement issued through the Press Information Bureau on Thursday, the Ministry of Communications called its satellite rules “fair and non-discriminatory.” It said security assessments are under way for all three licensed satellite operators, and that “all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage.” Only after that review can an operator seek spectrum.
Starlink won its Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) licence in June 2025 and authorization from space regulator IN-SPACe the following month. Security clearance and spectrum are still outstanding. In March 2025, Jio itself agreed to sell Starlink hardware, pending Starlink’s approvals.
As of Friday morning, neither Reliance, Jio, the Department of Telecommunications nor the communications minister had publicly responded to the letter. Musk again offered no evidence that Reliance has lobbied against Starlink, and the government still hasn’t said when its security reviews will finish or whether Jio’s Starlink distribution deal remains in place.
Open letters usually go to the person with the power to say yes. Whoever that turns out to be, Starlink’s dishes in India stay dark until the security review clears.
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