NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's Starlink is

seeking security clearance for a licence to offer satellite

broadband services in India and will get a permit if it

satisfies all conditions, the telecoms minister said on Tuesday.

Starlink has been looking to enter India for years and its

plans got a major boost last month when New Delhi said it

wouldn't auction spectrum for satellite broadband but rather

award it administratively - just as Musk wanted. Rival Indian

telecom billionaire Mukesh Ambani had wanted an auction.

Indian telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday

that Starlink was in the process of obtaining security

clearance, which requires it to satisfy New Delhi that the

company processes and stores data locally, and that its

satellite signals are secure.

"When you check all the boxes, you get the licence. If they

(Starlink) do that, we will be very happy," Scindia said at an

event in New Delhi.

Security clearance would take Starlink one step closer to

Musk's plans to offer broadband to Indians, a market Ambani's

Reliance Jio currently dominates with 14 million wired

subscribers.

Ambani, Asia's richest man, also has more than 479 million

Indian telecom users, but is concerned that after spending $19

billion in airwave auctions, he now risks losing broadband

customers and potentially data and voice clients to Musk as

technology advances, Reuters has previously reported.

Reliance already has security clearance to launch satellite

broadband services, according to a source with direct knowledge.

Starlink has told the Indian government it is willing to

comply with all of New Delhi's security requirements, said

another source familiar of the matter.

After security clearance is obtained, companies still need

to obtain spectrum to start offering satellite broadband

services.

Ambani once gave data for free on his mobile plans, and Musk

has adopted similarly aggressive tactics. In Kenya, Musk priced

Starlink at $10 per month, versus $120 in the United States,

unsettling local telecom players.