Musk pledges affordable Starlink pricing in India days before Ambani's record Jio IPO

BENGALURU, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Elon Musk stated he would set affordable prices for Starlink's satellite internet in India as it challenges Mukesh Ambani's budget-focused Reliance Jio, intensifying his criticism of the rival billionaire just days before Jio's parent company launches India's biggest-ever IPO.

Jio Platforms, the parent of the telecom business, aims for a $106 billion valuation in the share sale. Similar to SpaceX-owned Starlink, Jio's satellite unit is also waiting for final security approval before it can begin operations.

Low-cost data is the strategy that established Jio in India and one Musk has deployed in markets such as Kenya to disrupt incumbent telecom operators. SpaceX is now preparing to enter the mobile network operator business directly, beginning in the United States.

Musk did not give specific price points for India, where mobile data costs roughly 8 cents per gigabyte, one of the cheapest rates globally.

"Obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable," he wrote in a Saturday post on his social media platform X.

"The reality is that competition would greatly benefit the average citizen in India by giving them more choices, as it always does. Ambani’s profits will be lower, but he is not going out of business," Musk added.

‘PRIME MINISTER AMBANI’

The billionaire's comments were the latest in a string of X posts in which he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and Ambani of delaying Starlink's entry into one of the world's largest internet markets in order to benefit Jio, the market leader.

These posts represent a significant shift for Musk, who had long maintained a cordial public relationship with Modi.

India's government has rejected claims of bias in its approval process, pointing out that all three satellite ventures seeking to launch—including Starlink's and Jio's—are still awaiting final security clearance.

On Friday evening, Musk directly mocked Ambani, calling him "Prime Minister Ambani" and asking if he would "consider allowing Starlink to compete".

Reliance has not replied to requests for comment regarding Musk's statements.