Govt to treat satellite broadband as telecom service, allow 100% FDI via automatic route

nment is likely to treat satellite broadband as a telecom service, and accordingly, the likes of Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, Elon Musk’s Starlink, Jeff Bezos-led Amazon Kuiper and Canada’s Telesat are set to be eligible for 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) through the automatic route, akin to telecom service providers, top lawyers and senior satellite industry executives said.

Such a move is likely to offer much needed clarity to global investors on the applicable foreign ownership rules, especially to companies planning to launch broadband-from-space services in India, and pave the way for top dollar inflows into India’s satcoms sector, these people added.