Not only Elon Musk's Startlink but several other players have applied to start their satellite communication services in India, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday.
The minister said that satellite services will be complementary to the existing communication network and help in covering rural and remote areas.
"We have already given out two licences, one to Reliance and the other to Bharti Airtel. For satellites, we have a number of companies that are in the pipeline that have applied," Scindia said at Times Now Summit 2025.
The minister said that satellite companies need to meet the requirements to begin their operations in the country.
"We welcome them with open arms. India is open for everyone to do business, provided you tick the boxes, you get spectrum and you start business," Scindia said.
The minister said that there are four telecom service providers in the country and that will continue to be the case.
He said state-run BSNL is very much ahead of the curve after 18 years. In the October-December quarter, the company posted a Rs 262 crore net profit.
"Our (BSNL) EBITDA, 9-month Q3 2024-25 versus 2023-24, has grown from Rs 450 crores to Rs 1,500 crores. There's been a 3x increase in quarterly operating profit. Our net profit... we had a net loss in Q3 last year of Rs 1,262 crore, which we've converted to a Rs 262 crore profit," Scindia said.
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