BENGALURU, June 13 (Reuters) - A joint venture between

Reliance Industries' Jio Platforms and

Luxembourg-based SES to provide gigabit fibre

internet has won approval from the Indian space regulator to

operate satellites there, a government executive said.

The three approvals issued to Orbit Connect India - which

aims to provide satellite-based high-speed internet access -

come as companies from Amazon.com ( AMZN ) to Elon Musk's

Starlink have been vying for the go-ahead to launch satellite

communication services in the world's most populous nation.

The authorisations have not been previously reported. They

were granted in April and June from the Indian National Space

Promotion and Authorisation Centre, known as IN-SPACe. These

allow Orbit Connect to operate satellites above India, but

further approvals are needed by the country's department of

telecoms to begin operations.

Reliance, which owns Jio, did not respond to an email

seeking further details.

Inmarsat, another company hoping to provide high-speed

satellite-based internet, has also gotten approval to operate

satellites over India, IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Goenka told

Reuters. Two other companies, Elon Musk's Starlink and

Amazon.com's ( AMZN ) Kuiper, have applied.

Eutelsat's Bharti Enterprises-backed OneWeb was

given all of its approvals late last year.

India's satellite broadband service market is expected to

grow 36% per year over the next five years and reach $1.9

billion by 2030, according to the consultancy Deloitte.

Globally, the race to connect rural areas of the world via

space-based internet is accelerating. Amazon ( AMZN ) plans to invest $10

billion in Kuiper, which was announced in 2019, the year SpaceX

began deploying its first operational Starlink satellites.

Last week, Sri Lanka gave Starlink preliminary approval to

provide internet services there.

Goenka said the more companies were involved in the sector

in India, the better off consumers would be.

"Comparatively low pricing of communication services in

India will compel global players to drive innovation to reduce

their pricing," said Goenka, the former managing director of

automaker Mahindra & Mahindra.

"This is already being done in many industries like

automotive, where multinational OEMs had to innovate to meet the

expectations of Indian consumers of high performance and low

cost."

IN-SPACe will also soon authorise private companies to

operate ground stations, he said, which would enable satellite

operators to download data as they pass over India.

Prime Minister Modi's government, which just won a rare

third term, has been pushing the development of India's space

industry.

This year, it opened the gates for foreign direct investment

in the sector, saying outside companies could invest in the

manufacture of components and systems or sub-systems for

satellites up to 100% without approval.

As a result, investors' interest has "significantly

increased", Goenka said.

"Last year investments into private companies were $2

million-$7 million. This year they are talking $20 million-$30

million," he said. "The proof of concept has happened."