By Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi is set to meet Elon Musk during his trip this week

to the United States, and Starlink's entry in the South Asian

market could come up for discussion, two people familiar with

the plans told Reuters on Wednesday.

Modi will meet U.S. President Donald Trump during a two-day

U.S. visit which starts Wednesday, with discussions on trade and

tariffs concessions expected to be high on agenda.

Musk is likely to hold one-on-one talks with Modi, and

India's government expects that these could include Starlink's

long-delayed plans to launch satellite broadband services in

India, said the two sources, who declined to be named as the

plans are private.

Starlink has long wanted to launch in India and has in

recent months clashed with billionaire Mukesh Ambani's company

over how the country should grant spectrum for satellite

services. India's government has sided with Musk that spectrum

should be assigned and not auctioned, but Starlink's licence

application is still under review.

Ambani had lobbied New Delhi that he wanted a level playing

field and his executives have been worried that his telecom

company, which spent $19 billion in airwave auctions, risks

losing broadband customers to Starlink and potentially data and

voice clients as technology advances.

"Musk is agreeable to give assurances on India security

concerns, which includes storing data locally," said one of the

sources.

Starlink and Modi's office did not immediately respond to a

request for comment.

Musk in December said Starlink satellite internet was

inactive in India after authorities seized two of the company's

devices, one in an armed conflict zone and another in a drug

smuggling bust.

The sources said it was not clear if Tesla's planned entry

into India would come up during the meeting, though increased

sourcing of electric vehicle components from India is likely to

be among the talking points.

Musk has long criticized India's high import taxes on

electric cars and his team has over the years held repeated

discussions on setting up a local manufacturing base there, but

no such plans have yet materialized.

Other than Musk, Modi is unlikely to meet other business

CEOs during his U.S. trip, both the sources said.