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".

American billionaire Elon Musk on Wednesday hailed the government’s decision to allocate spectrum for satellite broadband administratively rather than through the auction route.

Elon Musk thanked India's Telecom Minister for not agreeing with Ambani and Mittal on auctioning satellite spectrum. He said Starlink will serve Indians.

In a recent announcement by Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, confirmed that India would allocate spectrum administratively, following global norms.

SpaceX and Starlink founder and CEO Elon Musk has “appreciated” the Indian government’s move to allot satcom spectrum administratively.

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

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio has been vocal about the need to allocate such spectrum through an auction to give a level playing field to legacy operators.

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.

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.

A major battle is heating up between billionaires Elon Musk and Mukesh Ambani over satellite broadband spectrum in India. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries and Elon Musk, CEO of Starlink,