Kamal Haasan Hits Elon Musk With 33.2% BharatNet Audit Figure
Kamal Haasan pushed back at Elon Musk over Starlink's licence delay, citing BharatNet's 33.2% operational figure. Kangana Ranaut called his reply sharp and on point.
Kamal Haasan has turned the Starlink licence debate into a full lesson in Indian telecom policy. The actor-politician pushed back at Elon Musk after the SpaceX chief suggested India is run by billionaires, not by its government, while complaining about delays to Starlink’s commercial approval in the country.
How the clash started
Musk’s post questioned why Starlink had spent five years complying with Indian requirements even though the satellite internet service is licensed in more than 165 countries. He followed up with a provocative line: “Is Ambani the real boss of India?” The comment pointed at Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani’s influence in the Indian market.
Kamal’s reply, point by point
Kamal, a Rajya Sabha MP, did not limit himself to a short retort. He laid out a policy position in a long social media response.
- No billionaire should dictate a country’s policies, whether Indian or American.
- India should welcome satellite-internet competition if it brings affordable connectivity, especially to remote areas.
- Telecom networks and spectrum are strategic assets with national security weight, not ordinary commercial goods.
- Western countries carry their own double standards on free markets; he cited the United States’ 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
He then pointed inward, using India’s own broadband programme as an example of democratic self-scrutiny. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s 2026 audit found BharatNet is struggling: only 33.2 percent of service-ready Gram Panchayats were operational after Rs 39,888 crore had been spent. At the same time, he said, India’s telecom regulation has kept internet data among the world’s most affordable.
His closing thought was direct: “India is a democracy, not a colony.”
Kangana reacts
Kangana Ranaut, the BJP MP and actor, appreciated Kamal’s framing. On Friday, October 9, she wrote on X, “Ouch!! That must hurt,” tagging Musk and calling the reply “well said and well explained. Sharp, on point and sarcastic.”
Why this matters for entertainment fans
This isn’t just a tech-policy story. It is another sign of how Indian film figures are using their massive followings to shape national policy conversations. Kamal and Kangana may differ on many things, but here they landed on the same side, giving the Starlink question a bigger audience than a telecom white paper ever could.
For viewers, the argument surfaces a very real trade-off: faster foreign competition could lower costs and reach remote users, but connectivity also sits at the heart of national security. That tension is exactly why licences move slowly and why the debate is likely to keep resurfacing.
Source: Mid-day
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