‘Dear Prime Minister Ambani’: Musk Ups Starlink Row, Shares Reports On Reliance-Linked Firm’s BJP Donations

Elon Musk on Saturday intensified his public confrontation with Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani over Starlink’s entry into India, sharing media reports concerning a Reliance-funded firm’s alleged role in boosting BJP campaigns on social media and a Reliance-linked company’s political donations.

Musk’s latest post on X (formerly Twitter) featured an Al Jazeera report from 2022, titled 'How a Reliance-funded firm boosts BJP's campaigns on Facebook' and an archived 2024 report by The Indian Express on Reliance-linked company Qwik Supply donating ₹385 crore to the BJP and ₹25 crore to the Shiv Sena through electoral bonds.

The posts came amid Musk’s escalating criticism of the delay in launching his Starlink satellite broadband services in India. Reliance has not publicly responded to Musk’s allegations.

‘Dear Prime Minister Ambani’: Musk's Monopoly Charge

In an earlier post on X, Musk sarcastically addressed Ambani as “Prime Minister Ambani”, accusing him of seeking to protect his market dominance and questioning whether Starlink would be allowed to compete.

“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?” Musk wrote.

He also argued that satellite internet could benefit underserved areas by expanding access to education and enabling small businesses to reach global markets. “Starlink would change their lives for the better,” he said.

Musk added that the service had helped save lives during natural disasters when other communication networks failed. He argued that allowing Starlink to operate in India could also help save lives during emergencies.

Govt Rejects Claims Of Selective Treatment

The latest posts follow Musk’s earlier allegation that powerful business interests were seeking to prevent Starlink from entering India to protect their dominance. On Thursday, he had questioned whether Ambani was the “real boss of India”.

Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has rejected suggestions that the government was favouring particular companies, saying India does not permit monopolies in any sector.

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress, Scindia said Starlink, Reliance Jio’s satellite venture Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb had secured satellite communications licences. Amazon’s Project Kuiper has expressed interest and would need to follow the prescribed process, he said, as per PTI.

Scindia added that spectrum would be assigned once the government finalised the pricing framework, with individual operators required to meet security conditions before commencing operations.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Department of Telecommunications were close to a decision on satellite spectrum pricing, he said.

The government has maintained that its authorisation framework is fair and non-discriminatory, rejecting allegations of selective treatment as baseless and misconceived.