🛰️ India Gives Starlink the Go-Ahead

Author

Masala Chai
May 08, 2025

🌄 Good morning, stargazers and stock-watchers!

Friday Junior aka Thursday’s here and it’s beaming down satellite signals, startup scoops, and some serious geopolitical heat. From Elon Musk beaming internet from space (literally) to investors trying to resuscitate India’s Uber rival, it’s one of those days where business and tech headlines read more like a sci-fi thriller. So pour yourself a strong one — this edition of Masala Chai is anything but boring. ☕🚀

☕ Chai Shots

📊 Market Masala

  • 📈 Markets End in the Green Despite Border Tensions: The Sensex edged up 106 points while the Nifty gained 35, as traders brushed off escalating cross-border strikes. Paytm jumped 7.2% after narrowing Q4 losses, and Tata Motors surged 5% after shareholders okayed its demerger.

  • 💼 Adani Green Promoters Up Their Stake: Ardour Investment has converted ₹84.6 crore worth of warrants into equity, nudging the promoter holding in Adani Green from 61.14% to 61.16%. More conversions could be on the horizon before July 2025.

  • 🔐 NSE & BSE Limit Access for Overseas Users: As a cyber risk precaution, India’s leading stock exchanges have restricted access to their websites from outside the country. Trading and market functioning? Completely unaffected.

  • 🍵 Dabur Cleans House and Bets on Speed: The FMCG giant is shelving slower-selling SKUs like Vedic tea and diapers to focus on quick commerce and health-first products. They’re trimming fat and chasing agility with e-comm and premium wellness play.

  • 📉 Earnings Radar: Biggies like L&T, Titan, Asian Paints, Britannia, and Bharat Forge dropped their Q4 results today. Investors are parsing margins and consumer sentiment as the dust settles.

🌍 Global Masala

  • 💵 Fed Hits Pause, Warns of Double Trouble: The US Fed held rates steady but flagged rising risks on both inflation and unemployment — a tricky combo. Powell said he’s not ready to pivot on policy until the economic signals get clearer.

  • 💷 UK Likely to Snip Rates as Trade Woes Weigh: The Bank of England is expected to issue a fourth rate cut, even as inflation jitters remain. Trump’s tariff tirade is adding pressure across global central banks.

  • ✈️ EU Preps Tariff Ammo for Boeing: The EU is planning fresh tariffs on US goods — including Boeing jets — if trade talks with Washington fail. With Trump’s tariff pause set to expire in July, Europe’s getting ready to fight fire with fire.

  • 🤖 Tesla’s 'Robotaxi' Term Gets Trademark Rejected: Elon’s plan to trademark "Robotaxi" was blocked by the US patent office for being too generic. Tesla has 90 days to respond — or pick a more original name.

  • 📉 Alphabet Slides on Apple’s AI Search Shake-Up: Google lost over $150 billion in market value after Apple’s Eddy Cue said AI-based search engines could soon be built into Safari, threatening Google’s dominance.

  • 🌏 Asia Markets Mixed After Fed’s Move: Markets in Japan, Korea, and Australia saw modest moves after the Fed decision. All eyes now on US-China trade talks set to kick off shortly.

Elon Musk’s Starlink just got the official thumbs up to start satellite internet services in India — but this isn’t a launch party just yet. 🛰️📡

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) for a satcom licence after years of waiting. This means Starlink can now move toward launching services… as long as it checks a few more boxes. Here's what’s going on:

🚦 What just happened?

  • Starlink has received LoI approval for a GMPCS licence, which allows mobile satellite communication.

  • This approval comes after the company agreed to 29 strict security and localization conditions, including:

    • Keeping all user data within India 🇮🇳

    • No linking to overseas servers or terminals

    • Location tracking for mobile terminals every 2.6 km or every minute — whichever comes first 🛰️📍

    • At least 20% of its ground infrastructure must be made in India

🤝 Local Partnerships Already Locked In

  • Starlink has signed distribution deals with Jio and Airtel, who will help sell and service its high-speed satellite internet — especially in remote, hard-to-reach areas.

  • The move signals a shift from rivalry to collaboration in India’s satcom race 🚀

📊 Why it matters

  • India’s remote regions — from the mountains to rural heartlands — often lack reliable broadband. Starlink wants to fix that with its LEO (low Earth orbit) satellite network.

  • But it won’t come cheap. Analysts warn the service will remain premium-priced, about 10–14x costlier than local broadband — making it attractive to niche users like businesses and emergency services.

🚀 Startup Scoop

  • 📦 Shiplog Raises ₹6.5 Cr to Speed Up Same-Day Delivery: The Gurugram-based startup secured seed funding to supercharge its AI-driven logistics engine. With 15,000 daily orders already, it’s betting big on dark stores and electric fleets to redefine fast delivery for D2C brands.

  • 🪑 Flipspaces Snags $35M to Redesign Offices Globally: The commercial interior tech startup will use its latest raise to expand across India, the US, and UAE. From modular design to supply chain automation, Flipspaces is trying to bring the WeWork vibe to every office — minus the chaos.

  • 💻 BrowserStack Acquires Dev Tool Darling Requestly: Mumbai-based BrowserStack picked up YC-backed Requestly — a favorite among frontend devs for API testing and mocking. Expect more integrations, new features, and a smoother debugging workflow ahead.

  • 🧘‍♀️ BlissClub Bags ₹33 Cr to Stretch Its Lifestyle Ambitions: The women-focused activewear brand raised a fresh round led by Elevation Capital and Eight Roads. With products already on Amazon, Myntra, and its D2C site, BlissClub now aims to scale travelwear and go deeper into lifestyle categories.

🧠 Chai Break Trivia

Did you know there’s a place on Earth where you can stand in four states at once?

📍At the Four Corners Monument in the U.S., the borders of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet at a single point — perfect for a selfie that’s technically in four places at the same time!

🔭 What’s Brewing Next?

  • 🏦 RBI’s upcoming policy decision

  • 🛃 Fresh developments in US-China trade negotiations

Thanks for tuning into today’s Masala Chai! From satellites and strikes to stretchable startups, we’re here every day to decode India’s wildest business stories. If you learned something new (or just enjoyed the sip), forward this brew to a friend who needs their morning kick too.

See you tomorrow, chai fam! ☕🚀

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