Starlink would help least-served in India, especially rural areas: Elon Musk

New Delhi: Elon Musk on Friday said Starlink would help the ‘least served’ areas of India — particularly in rural areas — as the satellite internet service awaits commercial rollout in the country.

Taking to social media platform X, Musk said, “Starlink would help the least served in India, especially in rural areas.”

Musk replied to a post that pointed to the continued digital connectivity gap in India noting that 11,256 listed villages still had no 4G coverage as of May 2026.

The post on X highlighted the disparity in internet subscription density between rural and urban India.

India had 1.093 billion internet subscriptions in March 2026 of which 440.87 million were rural. While rural internet subscription density stood at 48.31 per 100 people, compared with 126.80 in urban areas.

The post said BharatNet had laid more than 850,000 route-km of fibre and made around 221,000 Gram Panchayats service-ready.

However, only 80,472 Gram Panchayat Points of Presence were reported operational as of June 2026.

It further stated that satellite connectivity could help bridge gaps in remote villages, mountainous regions, islands and areas affected by disasters, where conventional telecom infrastructure faces challenges related to terrain, commercial viability and infrastructure constraints.

The post also called for the completion of regulatory clearances, spectrum allocation and approval for Starlink’s commercial launch in India.

Earlier in August, a government official said that Elon Musk’s X will have to follow the law when it comes to the social media platform’s new rule that makes content takedown requests by any public government.

In addition, Musk has claimed that “any censorship required by the governments is now clearly visible” after revealing a new algorithm included in X.

IANS