NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Having just lost a battle with Elon Musk over how India's satellite spectrum is awarded, Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani could face a bigger challenge if Musk's Starlink launches services in India and the two go head-to-head on price.

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.

According to a report from Reuters, the government said on October 15 that it will henceforth give spectrum to participants instead of asking for bids at auction.

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".

Airtel added that companies wanting to offer satellite services to urban and retail customers need to get licences through the usual process and buy spectrum.

India will allot the spectrum for satellite internet via an administrative process instead of an auction, telecommunications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday.

Billionaires Elon Musk and Mukesh Ambani are at odds over a crucial decision shaping the future of satellite broadband in India, should satellite spectrum be auctioned or assigned administratively? This debate isn't just a clash between industry giants;

India’s decision to allocate satellite spectrum through administrative means, bypassing the auction method, appears to favor global players like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia confirmed the administrative allocation process for satellite services,

Starlink boss Elon Musk said a move by India to auction satellite broadband spectrum, and not allocate it, would be "unprecedented", reacting to a Reuters story that rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani was lobbying for the auction route.