Zoho's Sridhar Vembu rebuts Elon Musk, praises India's telecom market

India Oct 10, 2026

Zoho co-founder and Chief Scientist Sridhar Vembu has pushed back against Elon Musk's complaints about Starlink facing tough regulations in India.

Vembu praised India's competitive market, saying it keeps data costs low and prevents monopolies, thanks in part to players like Reliance Jio shaking things up.

Jyotiraditya Scindia says applicants treated equally

Musk recently called out India for "unreasonable" delays in approving Starlink, but the government says every company—including Starlink, Reliance Jio, OneWeb, and Amazon—is being treated the same.

Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia emphasized that licensing is transparent and fair: "Every applicant is treated equally."

So no special treatment, just a level playing field for all.