India, Oct. 7 -- SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday alleged that Starlink was being "blocked by certain oligarchs" in India to protect their "monopolistic chokehold" over the country, as the satellite internet company continues to await final clearances to begin commercial services.

Responding to a post arguing that India needs Starlink to bridge connectivity gaps in underserved areas, Musk said: "Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are . This is a crime against the people of India!"

A mail to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) did not elicit a response till the time of going to press.

Starlink, owned b...