Stars may have finally aligned for Elon Musk-owned satcom company in India
Starlink for a satcom licence, despite pending issues such as its ties with US security agencies. The Elon Musk-owned company may be given “conditional approval”, based on an undertaking furnished by it, said people with knowledge of the matter.
“As per the undertaking, Starlink may be asked to not share with any US agency the machines or equipment used in India, while data should not be routed outside the country,” one of the persons told ET, asking not to be named. Further, the satcom company may be asked to partner with an Indian company in atime-bound manner. This comes as Musk is set to travel to India later this month and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with plans for a Tesla factory expected to be announced.
An internal committee of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is working on the Starlink application. Since some of the issues, including those related to Starlink’s collaboration with American intelligence agencies, remain open, the company can only be granted conditional approval, the people said.
“The Digital Communication Commission (DCC) is likely to take up the Starlink case shortly to decide if conditional approval can be given,” said one of the persons.
Safeguards to be put in place
The DCC is an inter-ministerial panel and the DoT’s highest decision making body. The DoT secretary is chairman of the panel, which also includes secretaries of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion as well as the
