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.

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".

Elon Musk thanks Indian government for administratively allocating satellite spectrum, creating tension with telecom honchos.

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".

The fight over how India should allocate satellite broadband spectrum intensified on Tuesday as Elon Musk said any move by New Delhi to auction it, rather than allocate it, would be "unprecedented", challenging the position of rival billionaires.

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’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,

India will allot the spectrum for satellite internet via an administrative process instead of an auction, telecommunications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday.

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.