Ambani’s Shares Fall After Musk Accuses India Oligarchs Of Blocking Starlink
India-West News Desk
NEW DELHI – Reliance Industries shares fell sharply on October 8 after Elon Musk’s comments about Starlink being blocked by “oligarchs” in India renewed investor concerns over competition in the country’s satellite broadband market, before the Indian government rejected his claim as “baseless and misconceived.”
Reliance, which has a close to 9 percent weight in the benchmark Nifty 50, was the biggest drag on the index. The decline wiped billions of dollars from the conglomerate’s market value and erased more than $2 billion from Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s personal fortune, according to provisional market estimates.
Musk’s remarks came in a post on X a day earlier, in which he alleged that Starlink was being “blocked by certain oligarchs” in India to protect their “monopolistic chokehold” over the country. The comments were widely interpreted by investors as a reference to India’s dominant telecom incumbents.
The market reaction came at a sensitive time for Reliance as it prepares for the long-awaited public listing of Jio, one of India’s most anticipated IPOs. Investors are concerned that renewed attention on Starlink’s India ambitions could intensify competition in broadband, satellite connectivity and digital services, which are viewed as important long-term growth areas for Jio.
Starlink and Jio are increasingly seen as potential rivals in next-generation connectivity, particularly in rural broadband, enterprise solutions and satellite communications. Analysts said Musk’s comments injected uncertainty into a sector that investors had largely viewed as insulated from global disruption.
The reaction also revived debate over Jio’s proposed valuation. Bloomberg has previously reported that valuation expectations for the IPO had been moderated from around $140 billion to approximately $114 billion as bankers sought to improve investor appetite, a reduction of roughly 21 percent.
Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, another major telecom player with exposure to satellite broadband through OneWeb, also declined 2.1 percent amid sector-wide pressure.
The Indian government, however, rejected Musk’s assertion that the regulatory framework for satellite communication services was being applied in a discriminatory manner.
The Ministry of Communications said India has put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorization framework for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services.
“This is aimed at ensuring that services provided meet various security requirements to ensure the safety of all users and their data. Security assessment as part of this process is currently underway in respect of all the three licensees,” the ministry said.
“At present, all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage. As such, the suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived,” it said.
Musk’s comments came as Starlink, the satellite internet company founded by Musk’s SpaceX, continued to await final clearances to begin commercial services in India.
