Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi has responded to Elon Musk's question about whether Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani is the "real boss" of India, telling the US business tycoon: "Wait till you discover the other guy."
The exchange came amid a controversy over Starlink's satellite internet services in India. The Indian government has rejected allegations that Starlink's services were being blocked by domestic business interests, after Musk asked on X: "Is Ambani the real boss of India?"
In a cryptic post on X, Gandhi said, "Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy."
In response, Musk thanked Gandhi and replied: "This is indeed troubling."
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha was responding to a post by Musk, who had said: "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?"
"Is Ambani the real boss of India?" the US business tycoon asked.
The government earlier on Thursday rejected Musk's allegations that Starlink's satellite communications services were being blocked and said compliance with security norms was mandatory for every satcom licence holder in the country.
The government has licensed three companies - Musk's Starlink, Reliance Jio's satellite venture Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb. However, none can begin commercial services until required security assessments and spectrum-related approvals are completed.
"Security assessment as part of this process is currently under way in respect of all three licensees," the telecom ministry said in a statement.
Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said the issue was with the Ministry of Home Affairs and was not specific to any one company. "The Department of Telecom has issued licences to all satcom companies as well as provisional spectrum. Now the issue is pending with MHA for security clearance. As soon as it is cleared, they will get it. It has nothing to do with one company," Pemmasani told reporters on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress.
The comments came a day after Musk alleged on X that "certain oligarchs" were blocking Starlink to protect a "monopolistic chokehold" on the Indian market. He did not identify any company.
(With inputs from PTI)
