NEW DELHI: Communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said satellite communication (satcom) companies can begin operations in India only after individually meeting the required security conditions and milestones, stressing that three companies have received licences despite the focus on Elon Musk’s Starlink. He also took a dig at Congress for their response to Musk’s statements.“There is a lot of conversation about one specific company, but three companies have got satcom licences,” Scindia said, underlining that each operator must fulfil the required conditions before it can start services.Scindia’s remarks come amid a row between Musk and the Indian government over the delay in Starlink’s commercial launch in the country. The SpaceX chief had alleged that “certain oligarchs” were blocking the company to protect their “monopolistic chokehold” on the Indian market, without initially naming anyone.The government rejected the allegation, describing India’s regulatory framework for satellite communication services as “fair and non-discriminatory”. It said security assessments were underway for all three licensed operators and that each could move to the next stage of seeking spectrum assignment once the process was completed. The government called suggestions of discriminatory treatment “baseless and misconceived”.Minister of state for communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said the security clearance issue was pending with the ministry of home affairs and had “nothing to do with one company”.Scindia also took a swipe at Congress saying that the party had earlier objected to a particular person getting a licence but was now aligned with the same person in questioning why the licence had not been granted. He accused the party of not knowing whether it was “going left or right”.
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The remarks come after Musk stepped up his criticism on Thursday, saying Starlink was licensed in more than 165 countries and had spent five years complying with Indian government requirements. He questioned why the company was still awaiting approval and asked whether industrialist Mukesh Ambani was the “real boss of India”.Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi responded to Musk on X, writing: “Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy.”Musk replied: “Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling.”
