India doesn't allow monopoly; satcom licencees can start only after security norms met: Scindia

New Delhi: Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday asserted that India does not allow monopoly in any sector, and said despite the buzz around one "particular" company, the fact is three players have received satcom licences and can start operations after individually meeting security requirements and milestones.

The comments assume significance amid raging controversy over satellite communications and allegations by trillionnaire Elon Musk that his Starlink's satcom services are being blocked by certain oligarchs who want to "maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people".

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Scindia on Friday said India doesn't allow monopoly in any sector.

"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 at India Mobile Congress here.

Scindia said that three entities, Musk's Starlink, Reliance Jio's satellite venture Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, have already secured licences, while Amazon's Kuiper has expressed interest and will need to undergo the established procedure.

Scindia said that while there is a lot of conversation about one particular company, three have got satcom licences.

"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 security conditions, then they can start operations," the Minister said.

TRAI and the telecom department are close to a final decision on pricing regime for satcom spectrum, Scindia said.

Hitting out at Congress, in the backdrop of Rahul Gandhi and Elon Musk's exchange on X, the minister said, "As far as the Congress party is concerned... I don't think they themselves know whether they're going left or right," he said.

He said that Congress initially had a problem with "a certain person getting a licence" and pointed out "Now they have a problem, and they've allied with that person in terms of why he's not getting a license".

"So I don't know whether they have clarity on where they're going, but that is the case with the Congress, which is to be expected," Scindia said.

The remarks come amid a row over satcom services, with Musk alleging that Starlink is being blocked by certain oligarchs seeking to "maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people".

The Indian government and Musk sparred over the issue on Thursday after the telecom department rejected allegations that Starlink's satellite internet services were being blocked by domestic business interests, leading the tech trillionaire to ask if "Ambani is the real boss of India".

The government, earlier in the day, slammed the US business tycoon over his allegations that Starlink's satcom services are being blocked, and made it clear that demonstrating compliance with security norms is an absolute must for every satcom licensee in the country.

Within hours of the government's rebuttal, Musk, in a post on X, asked whether "Ambani is the real boss of India".

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"Starlink is licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India, so why still no license?" Musk said in an X post.

Musk's post came within hours of the telecom ministry saying that the country's authorisation framework for telecom and satellite services was "fair and non-discriminatory" and that any suggestion that it was being applied selectively was "baseless and misconceived".

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