Elon Musk is beefing with telecom billionaire Mukesh Ambani as Starlink’s launch in India stalls. Here's why.

Elon Musk asked on X if Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, is the "real boss of India" as SpaceX's Starlink awaits regulatory approval in the country.

Getty Images Starlink has been trying to offer satellite-based internet in India for several years.

Elon Musk said on X that "monopolistic" efforts are holding back Starlink from entering the country.

Musk called out Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, which has a telecom arm.

Elon Musk is picking a fight with India's richest man — again.

In the past few days, Musk has been criticizing regulatory approval delays for Starlink's satellite-based internet in India, pointing the finger at "certain oligarchs" who want to maintain a telecom monopoly in the country.

Musk didn't name names in his X post on Wednesday.

On Thursday, he called out Mukesh Ambani , the chairman of Reliance Industries, India's largest conglomerate.

Part of Reliance's portfolio includes the country's largest mobile network, Reliance Jio, which the company says has more than half a billion customers.

"Starlink is licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India, so why still no license?" Musk wrote.

"Is Ambani the real boss of India?" Spokespeople for Reliance Jio and India's Ministry of Communications did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Musk followed up on Friday with a sarcastic apology letter addressing Ambani as the Prime Minister.

"Please accept my humble apologies for not realizing that you are the real boss of India," he wrote.

"Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete?" The actual prime minister of India is Narendra Modi, with whom Musk has had a largely cordial, if pragmatic, relationship .