Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Elon Musk asked whether Mukesh Ambani is the “real boss of India” as he stepped up his criticism of the regulatory hurdles facing his satellite internet company Starlink. Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, had a pointed response, telling Musk to “wait till you discover the other guy.”
Rahul Gandhi did not name anybody in his post, but his remark appeared to target industrialist Gautam Adani. Gandhi and his party the Congress have repeatedly accused Adani of having close ties with the BJP-led government and receiving favourable treatment.
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Responding to Musk’s post on X, Gandhi wrote, “Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy”.
Within an hour, the American billionaire responded to Gandhi, saying, “Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling.”
Musk, in a series of posts, alleged that “certain oligarchs” were blocking his satellite internet company’s entry into India despite its efforts to secure regulatory approvals. His claims were quickly dismissed by the government, which said the approval process was fair and that all three companies seeking approval were awaiting security clearances.
In his latest post, Musk questioned why Starlink was still awaiting approval to begin commercial operations in India despite being licenced in more than 165 countries and having spent five years complying with the Indian government’s requirements.
“Starlink is licenced 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? Is Ambani the real boss of India?” Musk wrote on X.
He made the post while sharing a claim that the government was more interested in protecting the interests of “crony capitalists” than those of citizens.
The remark came hours after Musk accused “certain oligarchs” of using their “monopolistic chokehold” to keep Starlink out of India.
“Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are. This is a crime against the people of India!” Musk said in an earlier post.
The remarks were followed by several posts in which Musk highlighted Starlink’s potential role in providing connectivity to underserved areas in India.
The government rejected Musk’s allegation that Starlink was being blocked by powerful business interests and defended its approval process for satellite internet services as fair and non-discriminatory.
“The suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived,’ the Ministry of Communications said in a statement without naming Starlink or Musk.
The government has licenced three companies — Musk’s Starlink, Reliance Jio’s satellite venture Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb. However, none can begin commercial services until the required security assessments and spectrum-related approvals are completed.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
