Starlink, the satellite communication company backed by Elon Musk, is still awaiting a few more approvals from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) before it can begin operations in the country, according to Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal.
In a report, Mittal confirmed that while Starlink has received approval for “commercial operations” from the DoT, a couple of additional clearances are still pending.
“Once they apply for spectrum, they need to do the testing and then show compliance to the security conditions,” he said. When asked about the expected timeline for these approvals, Mittal responded, “Essentially it is in the hands of Starlink now. (The) government is not standing in the way.”
This development follows recent remarks by Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who revealed that Starlink had secured a licence from the ministry, becoming the third company in India to do so after Bharti Airtel-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio’s SES.
Regarding Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Mittal noted that the application is still under process. “I think (the) application is in place, but I think it is a little distance from approval… I don’t think it (approvals for Kuiper’s application) is in our hands. They have to pursue it and come up with whatever gaps there are in the application,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government is yet to finalise a policy on spectrum pricing for satcom services. Although Minister Scindia had previously stated that India would witness the fastest rollout of satellite communication networks globally, the final decision awaits the Centre’s review of recommendations submitted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The satellite broadband sector in India is becoming increasingly competitive. Alongside domestic players like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, global technology giants such as Amazon and Globalstar have also expressed interest in entering the Indian satcom market.
Earlier this year, Airtel and Jio Platforms announced partnerships with SpaceX to deliver Starlink’s broadband services in India. More recently, Vodafone Idea (Vi) revealed a collaboration with US-based AST SpaceMobile to provide satellite broadband directly to smartphones without the need for additional equipment.
The telecom secretary made these statements during the inauguration of the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) Symposium 2025 at IIT Madras. He highlighted that the department has received over 1,300 proposals for R&D support under TTDF, out of which 120 projects have been approved with a total funding of INR 500 Cr. To date, INR 187 Cr has been disbursed to startups, MSMEs, academic institutions, and research organizations.
Launched in 2022, the TTDF aims to promote indigenous R&D in telecom technologies, targeting innovation in areas like 6G, AI, IoT, non-terrestrial networks, and quantum communications, while also working towards bridging the digital divide in rural regions.
