SpaceX's Elon Musk alleged rivals with a near monopoly on India's telecom and Internet market were shutting out cheaper options Starlink would provide.

Oct. 8 (UPI) -- SpaceX CEO Elon Musk accused Indian firms with a near monopoly on the country's telecom and Internet service market of standing in the way of SpaceX launching its Starlink satellite broadband in the country.

Musk said Wednesday that unnamed industry moguls whose businesses dominated the sector were actively working to deny consumers more affordable options in order to protect their market share, accusing them of "a crime against the people of India."

"We are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are," he said.

Starlink, which has vowed to bring high-speed Internet connectivity to Indians "who cannot afford current prices," received a satellite communications license in 2025 four years after first approaching Indian authorities to gain access to a market 80%-contriolled by home-grown giants, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

SpaceX has agreements with both firms, more than 20 ground stations and hundreds of antennae in position in India and ready to go live, but has yet to launch in the highly sought after market, said to be more than 1 billion subscribers.

India's Communications Ministry hit back at the allegations Thursday, saying in a statement that it rejected the aspertion against its regulation of satellite communication services and that regulatory approval process for Starlink was identical to that of two other providers that had been granted licenses and that all three were at "broadly the same stage."

"The Government has put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services. Under this, telecom licences have been granted to three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite services based on non-geosynchronous satellite orbit based satellite communications, as part of its commitment to enable provision of satellite communication services in India," said the ministry.

Musk's allegation came as Starlink business operations VP Lauren Dreyer told the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi on Wednesday that the company stood "ready to serve India" and was committed to helping deliver Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aim of bringing Internet connectivity to every Indian across the county.