Elon Musk has announced plans to price his Starlink satellite internet service affordably in India to take on Mukesh Ambani’s low-cost Reliance Jio.
His comments come days before Jio Platforms, the telecom parent company of Reliance Jio, targets a $106 billion valuation in India’s largest-ever initial public offering (IPO), reports Al Jazeera.
Much like SpaceX-owned Starlink, Jio’s satellite venture is currently awaiting final security clearance to launch in the country.
Writing on his social media platform X on Saturday, Musk addressed local pricing requirements, adding, “Obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable.”
Mobile data in India currently costs about 7.74 rupees ($0.08) per gigabyte, among the lowest rates in the world.
Cheap data was the playbook that built Reliance Jio in India, mirroring the strategy Musk has used in markets such as Kenya to unsettle local telecommunications operators.
SpaceX also plans to enter the mobile carrier market directly, beginning in the United States.
Emphasising the impact of market entry, Musk 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’s remarks were the latest in a series of posts on X accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and Ambani of stalling Starlink’s entry to favour market leader Jio.
The statements mark a sharp turn for Musk, who has long enjoyed a warm public rapport with Modi.
Late on Friday, Musk directly taunted Ambani, addressing him as “Prime Minister Ambani” and asking whether he would “consider allowing Starlink to compete.”
The Indian government has denied any bias in its approval process, noting that three satellite ventures seeking to launch, including Starlink and Jio, are all awaiting final security clearance.
