India’s western industrial hub Gujarat, is joining the global shift toward satellite broadband by entering into a preliminary agreement with Starlink, a subsidiary of Elon Musk-owned SpaceX. The agreement shows the state government’s plan to explore high-speed internet using low-earth-orbit satellites in regions where mobile towers and fibre networks are limited or unreliable, like tribal belts, border districts, and remote rural areas. However, the deal is not a final contract and does not mean an immediate launch of services.
The arrangement takes the form of a Letter of Intent, a non-binding document that outlines cooperation rather than commercial deployment. Through this understanding, Gujarat has signalled its intent to work with Starlink on pilot projects, technical assessments, and use cases that could demonstrate how satellite internet can complement existing telecom infrastructure. The focus is on areas where conventional connectivity has remained patchy due to terrain challenges, low population density, and high infrastructure costs.
Notably, Starlink’s system relies on a constellation of thousands of low-earth-orbit satellites, typically operating a few hundred kilometres above the Earth’s surface. This lower altitude allows data to travel with far less delay compared to traditional geostationary satellites, enabling faster speeds and lower latency.
For Gujarat, the potential applications extend well beyond household internet access. State officials see satellite connectivity as a way to strengthen public infrastructure, including government offices, schools, health centres, and common service centres that deliver digital services at the local level. Satellite broadband could also provide backup or primary connectivity for industrial parks managed by the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation, improve communication systems along highways, and support operations at ports and coastal installations.
At the same time, on Starlink’s part, this Letter of Intent adds momentum to its gradual expansion strategy in India. The company has been working to align with India’s regulatory and licensing framework, which governs spectrum usage, satellite operations, and telecom services. In June 2025, the firm became the third company to receive an operating licence from the Indian government for satellite internet services, joining Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications. Earlier, in March 2025, Starlink partnered with India’s leading telecom operators, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, to leverage their extensive retail networks for the distribution of Starlink equipment.
But despite receiving the operating licence and making steady progress on regulatory and partnership fronts, Starlink still needs additional approvals before it can begin a full commercial rollout in India. These include clearances from the space regulator IN-SPACe, formal spectrum allocation, the setting up of ground infrastructure, and completion of mandatory security and compliance testing. The whole scenario becomes even more significant as India’s satellite broadband market is projected to reach $1.9 billion by 2030.
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