Elon Musk Starlink may soon get approval from the Indian government

Elon Musk’s visit to India is going to happen soon. Before that, tech billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite-based internet service Starlink has reportedly received temporary approval from the Communications Ministry. According to reports, the approval process is currently on the desk of Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and final approval is awaited from the Home Ministry on some security issues. The report also said that the commercial part has been examined on issues such as foreign investment and net worth and technical requirements have been examined as per the licensing conditions.

Once Starlink receives approval from the Government of India, it will be issued a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) license, which is required to provide satellite communication services in the country.

Musk had earlier also tried to launch his satellite internet service in India, but had to step back due to lack of government approval. The company tried again in November 2022 and applied for GMPCS license. Although the matter could not progress much, Starlink continued its efforts.

The government had passed the Telecom Bill 2023 in December last year, which allows spectrum allocation for satellite-based services without the need to participate in auctions. This step of the government is in favor of companies like Oneweb, Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper.

Last week, the CEOs of Tesla and SpaceX had confirmed their visit to India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is expected to make several big announcements during his visit to India, including the launch of Starlink and investment of between $2 to 3 billion in the country.