Starlink In India | 'Satcom Not Competitor, But Compliment For Consumers': Jyotiraditya Scindia Interview

Last Updated:July 02, 2025, 15:39 IST

“This is the third (satcom) licence being given out in India, and there are others also in queue. India is ready to welcome every player if they check every box,” Scindia says.

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

India will be the largest satcom market in the world, with satcom not being a competitor but a compliment for every consumer and a necessary addition to bouquet of communication capabilities, Union Minister for Communications and DONER, Jyotiraditya Scindia has told CNN-NEWS18 in an exclusive interview.

He was asked about Elon Musk’s Starlink getting a licence to operate in India. “This is the third (satcom) licence being given out in India, and there are others also in queue. India is ready as a vibrant market to welcome every player into our country as long as they check all the boxes. Licence will be given, spectrum will be given on an administratively assigned system, price of which will be determined by regulatory authority. The market is wide open to come and service our customers," Scindia told CNN-NEWS18.

India will be largest Satcom Market: Scindia

Scindia said he believed that India will be largest satcom market in the world. “Don’t forget we have 17% of the world’s population. We have highest levels of penetration and connectivity in our country. What does Satcom do? It is not a competitor; it is a compliment for every consumer. It enables you to reach where no other technology can reach. There are still parts in the world, in every single country be it India or any other country, where the terrain is hostile, where you cannot install mobile towers. You cannot lay fiber. The only option in those areas is to provide not only communication and connectivity, but opportunities to every citizen through Satcom," the Union Communications Minister said.

Scindia added that Satcom will also bring it with many opportunities for new technologies to be in many ways innovated in India. “It is a whole new ecosystem that comes to India," Scindia told CNN-NEWS18.

The Minister said that in times of natural disasters, like the ones seen in Myanmar or Indonesia, the only technology works when normal communications are down is satcom.

“Satcom is a necessary addition to bouquet of communication capabilities. My job as minister of communication is to provide every available avenue of communications to every single citizen. Be it mobile, be it fixed wireless access, be it broadband, be it fiber cable or satellite,. Then it us for the consumer to choose which via media he goes by to connect with the world. It is also important for me to create a competitive environment under each vertical," Scindia told CNN-NEWS18.

Aman Sharma

Aman Sharma, Executive Editor - National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister’s Office....Read More

Aman Sharma, Executive Editor - National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister’s Office....

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