New Delhi: Elon Musk on Saturday stepped up his criticism of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, sharing screenshots of media reports alleging that a Reliance-funded firm helped boost BJP campaigns on social media and that a Reliance-linked company made substantial political donations to the ruling party.
Musk's latest post on X featured a 2022 Al Jazeera report titled “How a Reliance-funded firm boosts BJP's campaigns on Facebook” and an archived 2024 report by The Indian Express on Qwik Supply, which reported that the Reliance-linked firm donated hundreds of crores of rupees to the BJP and the Shiv Sena through electoral bonds.
The post came amid Musk's criticism of Ambani over delays in the launch of Starlink satellite broadband services in India.
Reliance has not publicly responded to Musk's latest allegations. The government, meanwhile, has maintained that India's authorisation framework for telecom and satellite services is fair and non-discriminatory, rejecting suggestions that it is being applied selectively.
A few hours before sharing the reports, Musk addressed Ambani as “Prime Minister Ambani” in a post on X and accused him of seeking to protect a monopoly. Musk asked whether Ambani would allow his satellite internet service to compete in India.
On Friday, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia asserted that India does not permit monopolies in any sector. He said three satellite communication service providers had received licences and could begin operations after meeting the prescribed security requirements and other conditions.
Musk has alleged that powerful business interests are seeking to block Starlink's entry into India to preserve their dominance in the market. He accused certain oligarchs of trying to “maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people”.
“Dear Prime Minister Ambani, Please accept my humble apologies for not realising that you are the real boss of India. Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete?” he wrote.
Musk also said many parts of India lacked internet access, depriving children of educational opportunities and small businesses of the chance to sell their goods in global markets. He asserted that Starlink could improve their lives.
In another post late Friday, Musk said Starlink had proved essential in saving lives during natural disasters around the world when other communication systems failed. He added that allowing the service in India could help save lives.
Scindia said the government followed a technology-agnostic approach and aimed to give consumers a choice among different connectivity options and service providers.
“Let me set the record straight. For us, the Department of Telecommunications, we are technology agnostic… Our job is to be able to provide the bouquet of services to every single customer. It is for the customer to choose in a free market which service he or she prefers, and within that service bouquet, which company's service he or she prefers,” the minister said at a briefing on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi.
Scindia said three entities — Musk's Starlink, Reliance Jio's satellite venture Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb — had secured licences. Amazon's Project Kuiper had expressed interest and would need to follow the established procedure, he said.
“We are very clear on our stand. There are three parties that have got a licence; as and when the government decides the charge system on the revenue basis, that spectrum will be assigned to them, and as and when they individually fulfil the security conditions, they can start operations,” Scindia said.
He added that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Department of Telecommunications were close to a final decision on the pricing framework for satellite communication spectrum.
Scindia also criticised the Congress amid the exchange between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Musk on X. He said the party had initially objected to a particular company receiving a licence but was now questioning the delay in that company's launch.
“As far as the Congress is concerned… I don't think they themselves know whether they're going left or right,” he said.
Musk's latest allegations came as the India Mobile Congress, an annual telecom industry event, was under way in New Delhi.
Earlier, Musk had questioned the delay in Starlink's entry into India, saying the company was licensed in more than 165 countries and had spent five years complying with Indian government laws and requirements.