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.

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.

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.

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".

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.

Billionaire Elon Musk has appreciated the Central government's stance that India will allot spectrum for satellite broadband administratively and not via auction. Musk had strongly opposed rival billionaire and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani's push for spectrum auction and criticised it as “unprecedented".

Starlink boss Elon Musk said a move by India to auction satellite broadband spectrum, and not allocate it, would be "unprecedented", reacting to a Reuters story that rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani was lobbying for the auction route.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance has privately argued that the telecom regulator incorrectly concluded that home satellite broadband spectrum should be allocated by New Delhi and not auctioned, intensifying a face-off with Elon Musk's Starlink.

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.

Elon Musk, through his satellite company Starlink, has expressed a commitment to serving India. His remarks follow Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s announcement that India will allocate spectrum for satellite services administratively,