Tupaki Analysis: Can Elon Musk Really Survive With Starlink In India?

Richest man in the planet, Elon Musk has been trying to enter the Indian market with his satellite internet provider service Starlink. There is a lot of debt happening on this matter for the time being.

Recently, it was communicated by Elon that his plans to enter the Indian market with the internet service provider are getting obstructed by multiple channels. He gave the implication that the Indian market is being controlled by Mukesh Ambani, who owns Jio.

At one point had even wrote on social media that Ambani appears to be the real prime minister of India as he is controlling the entire sector here.

But in terms of financial matters and the heart reality in India, it really needs to be seen if Elon would actually be able to survive here with Starlink.

Firstly, speaking this internet service is being offered at an upfront fee of more than ₹30,000. On top of that, the subscription and additional charges would cost at least ₹8000 per month. This can go up to even ₹1,00,000 per month.

These are extremely challenging price models, here in the financially sensitive Indian markets. It can perhaps be argued that such massive prices for internet might never work in the Indian market, which is extremely sensitive towards high prices.

But nevertheless, it is good to see the richest man on the planet actively looking to enter the Indian space with his internet service. There is going to be obvious pushback from the authorities as controlling the internet sector could be a matter of national security.

On a related note, it must also be kept in mind that Sunil Bharti Mittal responded to Elon Musk’s Starlink tweet, saying he applied for approvals five years ago, his ground network has been ready for three years and his satellites have been over India for five years, yet permission is still pending.

The Bharti Enterprises chairman says he would be happy to get approval at least a few days before him. If this is the situation of the big player in the Indian market itself that it must be a tough entry for Elon on at this point in time.