Elon Musk’s Starlink Inc. has logged a win in the fight for India’s satellite broadband market with a government minister saying the spectrum will be allocated, and not auctioned as sought by homegrown billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal.

According to a report from Reuters, the government said on October 15 that it will henceforth give spectrum to participants instead of asking for bids at auction.

Having just lost a battle with Elon Musk over how India's satellite spectrum is awarded, Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani could face a bigger challenge if Musk's Starlink launches services in India and the two go head-to-head on price.

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio has been vocal about the need to allocate such spectrum through an auction to give a level playing field to legacy operators.

The satellite spectrum allocation by the Indian government has triggered India’s dominant telco the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio that earlier privately lobbied for auction. However, after Elon Musk’s criticism of the same,

India's government on Tuesday said it will allot spectrum for satellite broadband administratively and not via auction, hours after Elon Musk criticized the auction route being sought by rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani as "unprecedented".

India is set to allocate spectrum for satellite services through administrative means rather than auction, a decision that aligns with recent comments by Elon Musk and rebuffs lobbying efforts by the country's largest telecom operators.

Billionaires Elon Musk and Mukesh Ambani are at odds over a crucial decision shaping the future of satellite broadband in India, should satellite spectrum be auctioned or assigned administratively? This debate isn't just a clash between industry giants;

India’s decision to allocate satellite spectrum through administrative means, bypassing the auction method, appears to favor global players like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia confirmed the administrative allocation process for satellite services,

While Elon Musk could be celebrating a minor victory with the Indian government upholding administrative allocation of spectrum and leveling the ground, the exciting times for communication may have just begun for India.