MeitY released the India AI Governance Guidelines (November 5, 2025), advocating a hands-off regulatory approach to AI.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has released the India AI Governance Guidelines which shows how the country intends to regulate artificial intelligence. Unlike the European Union's prescriptive AI Act, India's framework adopts a hands-off approach to AI regulation that prioritizes innovation over restrictive compliance. This choice positions India as a competitive hub for AI development while ensuring responsible deployment through flexible governance mechanisms.
Understanding India's AI Regulatory Framework
The India AI Governance Guidelines represent a deliberate departure from traditional regulatory models. Rather than imposing a standalone AI law with rigid compliance requirements, the framework leverages existing statutes primarily the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, and the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 to address AI-related challenges.
This AI regulatory framework is built on the philosophy of "Innovation over Restraint." The approach recognizes India's substantial AI talent pool of 420,000 professionals and the projected economic benefits of $500-600 billion by 2035. By avoiding statutory overreach, India aims to accelerate AI adoption without throttling development through excessive regulation.
7 Sutras of India's AI Governance
- Trust forms the foundation for public adoption and sustained innovation in AI systems.
- People First emphasizes human-centric design, ensuring AI serves citizens rather than replacing human oversight.
- Innovation over Restraint prioritizes responsible development without stifling technological advancement.
- Fairness & Equity mandates inclusive AI systems that actively prevent discrimination.
- Accountability establishes clear responsibility across the AI value chain.
- Understandable by Design requires transparency and explainability in AI systems for users and regulators.
- Safety, Resilience & Sustainability ensures AI systems are robust, secure, and environmentally responsible.
These principles are not legally binding legislation. Instead, they function as normative standards that companies must adhere to when seeking government funding or integration with public service platforms under the IndiaAI Mission.
Sectoral Oversight: Cornerstone of India's Approach
A defining feature of India's hands-off approach to AI regulation is the reliance on sectoral regulators rather than blanket technology regulation. Government agencies like MeitY work alongside specialized bodies such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to manage application-specific risks.
This model means AI developers face dual-layered obligations. While MeitY provides national philosophical direction through the Seven Sutras, binding compliance mandates come from sector-specific regulators. For instance, fintech companies must meet RBI's Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework requirements while aligning with MeitY's broader guidance.
The framework also requires updating existing laws to address emerging AI risks. A critical example is the proposed amendment to the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act to prevent AI misuse in analyzing radiology images for unlawful sex selection.
The AI regulatory framework reinterprets existing statutes to address AI challenges. The DPDP Act, 2023, which established strong personal data governance, includes a significant exemption for processing publicly available data. This provision facilitates AI model training on scraped data with fewer restrictions than similar global laws, directly supporting the "Innovation over Restraint" principle.
For content-related AI risks, particularly deepfakes and misinformation, the IT Act, 2000 provides the governance backbone. Section 79 grants safe harbor to intermediaries for third-party content, but MeitY is pursuing amendments to mandate labeling of AI-generated content on social media platforms, demonstrating selective intervention where national security or public order is threatened.
Institutional Framework: AIGG and AI Safety Institute
The India AI Governance Guidelines mandate comprehensive institutional structures to manage oversight. The AI Governance Group (AIGG) coordinates national AI policy, supported by the Technology and Policy Expert Committee (TPEC). This ensures a "whole-of-government" approach to implementation.
The AI Safety Institute (AISI) plays a critical role in risk assessment, technical validation, and safety research. By centralizing safety standards before widespread deployment, India aims to mitigate high-impact failures that would otherwise necessitate restrictive legislative responses. The AISI's technical standards effectively become the minimum compliance baseline for entities seeking government resources or participating in public utility projects.
Self-Regulation and Regulatory Sandboxes
The framework strongly encourages industry-led self-regulation, delegating the complex task of developing compliance mechanisms to the industry itself. Major technology players are expected to create codes of conduct and guidelines for self-audits, particularly regarding algorithmic transparency and competition compliance.
Pilot regulatory sandboxes serve as key innovation tools. Applicants must demonstrate financial and technological resources, propose innovative solutions, establish the necessity for live testing, and possess appropriate risk mitigation strategies. While this reduces bureaucratic overhead, there's risk that large incumbent players may dominate self-regulation, potentially stifling competition.
Digital Public Infrastructure: AI Governance Backbone
India's robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) anchors the entire governance framework. The government promotes a "UPI for AI" concept, an architectural approach designed to simplify model access, enhance interoperability, and embed security, data privacy, and regulatory compliance at the foundational infrastructure layer.
DPI serves as a governance backstop. Just as UPI established stringent protocols for financial transactions, applying this to AI means core governance elements are managed centrally through state-backed infrastructure. The hands-off approach to AI regulation applies primarily to the application layer, while the foundational layer remains tightly controlled for security.
Global Divergence: India's Competitive Advantage
India's light-touch AI regulatory framework contrasts sharply with the EU AI Act's risk-based classification system and extensive ex-ante compliance obligations. The EU's prescriptive approach has generated concerns about stifling innovation and discouraging investment through high compliance costs.
India's explicit prioritization of "Innovation over Restraint" is a response designed to attract global investment and retain skilled developers. While the US also lacks comprehensive federal AI law, relying on fragmented sectoral oversight, India's model differs through its unified framework under MeitY and standardization via DPI.
This positions India as a template for emerging economies, leveraging speed and scale as primary policy advantages.
Conclusion
India's hands-off approach to AI regulation through the India AI Governance Guidelines represents a strategic maneuver to maximize innovation while ensuring responsible deployment. By leveraging existing laws, empowering sectoral regulators, and building robust digital infrastructure, India achieves regulatory flexibility without the innovation drag of comprehensive legislation.
The success of this light-touch AI regulatory framework depends entirely on the strength of institutions like the AIGG and AISI, genuine private sector commitment to self-regulation, and the government's willingness to intervene decisively when necessary. As the February 2026 Delhi AI Impact Summit approaches, India's governance model will face global scrutiny as a potential blueprint for emerging economies seeking to balance AI innovation with public safety.
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India AI Governance Guidelines FAQs
1. What are India's new AI governance guidelines called?
Ans. India AI Governance Guidelines.
2. Which ministry released India's AI governance framework?
Ans. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
3. What are the Seven Sutras in India's AI governance?
Ans. Trust, People First, Innovation over Restraint, Fairness & Equity, Accountability, Understandable by Design, and Safety, Resilience & Sustainability.
4. Which existing laws does India use for AI regulation?
Ans. Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and Information Technology Act 2000.
5. What is India's approach to AI regulation compared to the EU?
Ans. Hands-off approach prioritizing innovation over restrictive compliance.