A parliamentary panel has selected satellite internet services for detailed examination in the coming days, amid a dispute between Elon Musk and the government over the delay in approving his company Starlink's commercial launch in India.
According to a PTI report, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, said the panel would discuss the issue at an upcoming meeting.
“We will discuss the satellite net issue at our meeting in the coming days,” Dubey told PTI after a meeting of the panel.
The development comes after Musk accused powerful business interests of obstructing Starlink's entry into India. In a series of posts on X last week, he targeted Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, sarcastically referring to him as “Prime Minister Ambani” and questioning whether he wielded greater influence over India's decisions than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Musk also alleged that some business groups were seeking to maintain a “monopolistic chokehold” on Indian consumers.
The Ministry of Communications has rejected the allegations, describing suggestions that the regulatory framework or its application was unfair or discriminatory as “baseless” and “misconceived”.
The government has maintained that satellite internet operators must meet the same regulatory requirements, including security conditions and spectrum allocation rules, before launching commercial services.
Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications have applied to provide satellite internet services in India. The government has said all three are at broadly the same stage of the approval process, awaiting security clearances and spectrum allocation before they can begin commercial operations.
Jio Satcom is the satellite venture of Reliance Jio, while Eutelsat OneWeb is backed by Bharti, which operates Airtel's pan-India mobile and internet network.
Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said last week that the three ventures had secured satellite communications licences. However, the licences do not by themselves permit commercial operations.
Scindia said spectrum would be assigned after the government finalises a revenue-based charging framework and the individual operators fulfil security requirements. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) are close to a decision on satellite spectrum pricing, he added.
Amazon's Project Kuiper has also expressed interest in entering the Indian market, but must follow the established regulatory procedure, Scindia said.
The distinction between licensing and operational approval remains central to the dispute. While satellite operators may hold licences, they must still secure spectrum and meet the required security conditions before launching commercial services.
(With inputs from PTI)