Elon Musk Vows Affordable Starlink in India Amid Ambani IPO

Elon Musk stated he would price Starlink's satellite internet service affordably in India, escalating his attacks on rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani days before Jio Platforms launches India's largest-ever IPO.

Jio Platforms, which owns the telecom arm, is targeting a valuation of $106 billion in the offering. Musk posted on X on Saturday, "Obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable." He added, "The reality is that competition would greatly benefit the average citizen in India by giving them more choices, as it always does. Ambani's profits will be lower, but he is not going out of business."

Musk accused Ambani's online supporters of absurd hypocrisy and ridiculous arguments and alleged a monopoly. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey, who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, responded on Sunday that India does not frame its security policy under social media pressure. Dubey stated the committee examined security concerns associated with Starlink, and the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, and investigative agencies raised concerns about dangerous games.

He claimed similar concerns were flagged by the Congress-led government in 2013-14. Dubey challenged Musk to "First, provide connections to the poor in your own country, America, at affordable rates, and then level accusations." Jio's own satellite venture is also awaiting final security clearance to launch. Mobile data in India costs about 8 cents per gigabyte, among the lowest in the world. SpaceX plans to enter the mobile carrier market itself, starting in the US.