The permit comes after several years of waiting and constitutes a major business opportunity for Starlink, which is excluded from the large Chinese market, but which in India gets a foothold on a market with 900 million internet users.
Starlink already has a number of agreements in place with local mobile operators, including Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel, which will help to launch Starlink services in the large growth country.
For India, Starlink represents an opportunity to expand internet services, as today's internet access in India is based on a network of mobile masts and fiber networks.
Elon Musk's SpaceX launched the first Starlink satellite in 2019 and has since built up a customer base of five million users in more than 100 countries – making Starlink the leading actor in the industry worldwide.
Musk's electric car manufacturer Tesla also has plans for a foray in India and has recruited personnel and set up car showrooms in preparation for deliveries of thousands of Tesla cars.
