New Delhi: The Centre has granted Elon Musk-led Starlink permission to offer satellite-based communication services in India, subject to stringent security and regulatory conditions.
Minister of State for Communications Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani reportedly said on 24 August that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued a unified license (UL) to the company after it agreed to comply with all domestic laws, including rules safeguarding data security.
As part of the license requirements, Starlink must establish earth station gateways in India to handle communications between its satellites and Indian users. The conditions explicitly bar routing Indian user traffic through gateways located abroad, prohibit copying or decrypting data outside the country and restrict mirroring of domestic traffic to overseas servers.
He stated that satellite-based communication services are an emerging area, and, like any new economic activity, they are also expected to generate employment in the country. This involves, inter alia, the installation, operation, and maintenance of the telecom network, including user terminal equipment.
The DoT had earlier sought recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on spectrum assignment and pricing for satellite-based services, which were submitted on 9 May.
Starlink, which has been preparing for its India rollout, will conduct Aadhaar authentication for customer verification before onboarding subscribers. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has already integrated Starlink into its authentication framework, enabling a smooth and secure verification process.
According to official estimates, Starlink currently has the capacity to onboard around 20 lakh customers in India.
The minister had earlier assured Parliament that data collected through Starlink’s services, including traffic and network details, would be stored within India, with no domestic user information routed or duplicated overseas.
The approval paves the way for Starlink to compete in India’s growing satellite broadband space, promising wider connectivity while ensuring data sovereignty and adherence to national security protocols.
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