Revanth Reddy backs Elon Musk amid Starlink row: ‘Can’t appease crony distractions’
Telangana chief minister and Congress leader Revanth Reddy on Friday backed SpaceX founder Elon Musk amid the Starlink row, saying that India could not “afford to appease crony distractions.”
Musk had, in a post on X, alleged that Starlink was being “blocked” in India by “certain oligarchs”. Responding to his remarks, Reddy highlighted UPI, which he said was a “shining example of big Indian innovation”, and urged the country to “welcome innovative solutions.”
India had rejected the SpaceX CEO's remarks, saying any suggestions that the country's regulatory framework or its application was discriminatory were “baseless and misconceived”.
‘Cannot afford to weaken Brand India globally’: What Revanth Reddy said
In a post on X, Reddy said, “Congress governments had always stood for digitisation and modernisation of India and the stellar reform to conceptualise the UPI and adopt mobile-based digital payments infrastructure was taken up under the Congress-led UPA-2 government in 2012-13. Today it stands out as a shining example of big Indian innovation.”
He further added, “India should welcome innovative solutions in cutting edge internet systems and cannot afford to weaken Brand India globally to appease crony distractions.”
Musk had earlier also had an exchange with Congress MP and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who had replied to the SpaceX CEO's post. Responding to Musk's post, Rahul said, “Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy.” Musk replied to this, saying, “Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling.”
Musk's ‘oligarchs’ claim, India's response
In his first remark on Wednesday, Musk had claimed that Starlink was 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 added. The SpaceX founder also replied to several posts on X, saying Starlink would enable “high-speed, affordable Internet connectivity for those who can’t afford current prices” in India.
He further claimed that Starlink could “fill in coverage gaps in the country”. Replying to a user, Musk said Starlink was icensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India". He further questioned, “…So why still no license? Is Ambani the real boss of India?”
In response to Musk's comments, the Ministry of Communications said, “A post is being circulated in social media regarding the fairness of India’s regulatory framework for satellite communication services and suggesting that it is being applied in a discriminatory manner. The Government has put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services.”
The ministry said telecom licences had been granted to three companies offering GMPCS services using non-geosynchronous satellite orbits -- Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, backed by Bharti Airtel, and Jio Satellite Communications. “Security assessment as part of this process is currently under way in respect of all the three licensees,” it said, adding that the companies were at “broadly the same regulatory stage”.
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