Baseless and misconceived: Govt after Elon Musk's 'oligarch' charge about India's internet framework

The Ministry of Communications has called Elon Musk's "oligarch" claims over Starlink's pending approval "baseless and misconceived."

In Short

• Govt calls Elon Musk's claims baseless and misconceived
• Musk alleged oligarchs blocking Starlink approval
• Govt says it has fair framework in place

The Government of India has responded to Elon Musk’s claims over oligarchs allegedly blocking Starlink in the country. In a press release shared by the PIB, the Ministry of Communications said that its framework for satellite services like Starlink remained fair and non-discriminatory. “The suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived,” the ministry said.

In the press release, the Ministry of Communications did not name Elon Musk directly, but addressed the claims posed by the tech trillionaire. “A post is being circulated in social media regarding the fairness of India's regulatory framework for satellite communication services and suggesting that it is being applied in a discriminatory manner,” the release said.
On Wednesday night, Elon Musk had accused oligarchs of trying to block Starlink in India. “Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people,” he wrote on X. “You can guess who they are”

The Ministry said that the Government has “put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework” for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services. It also pointed out that it had granted telecom licenses to three satellite communication services. “Telecom licences have been granted to three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite services based on non-geosynchronous satellite orbit based satellite communications,” the ministry said.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

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