Reliance Industries, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has publicly welcomed competition from Elon Musk’s Starlink in India’s satellite internet market, marking its first response to Musk’s recent criticism ahead of the planned $108 billion IPO of its Jio Platforms unit.
Musk, the head of SpaceX and Tesla, has accused the Indian government and Ambani of delaying Starlink’s launch in India, a market with more than one billion internet subscribers. Reliance’s Jio is the country’s largest mobile operator, serving over 530 million customers.
In a statement issued on Friday, Reliance noted that Jio’s own satellite internet services were also awaiting regulatory clearances. The company did not mention Musk by name but said it was responding to recent remarks about Reliance and the Indian market to clarify the facts.
The exchange comes as India’s satellite internet sector attracts growing attention, with Starlink seeking to enter the market and established telecom operators preparing their own satellite-based services.
