India AI Governance Guidelines: Enabling Safe and Trusted AI Innovation
India has unveiled a comprehensive, principle-based AI Governance Framework aimed at enabling safe, trusted, and inclusive artificial intelligence innovation across sectors. Released in November 2025, ahead of the AI Impact Summit 2026, these guidelines institutionalize a balanced and forward-looking approach that promotes innovation while safeguarding individuals and society.
What are the India AI Governance Guidelines?
The India AI Governance Guidelines provide a structured framework to guide the development, deployment, and regulation of AI systems in the country. Rather than imposing heavy ex-ante restrictions, the framework adopts a principle-based and techno-legal approach that builds on existing laws while addressing emerging risks. The guidelines aim to ensure that AI adoption supports India’s broader developmental vision of inclusive growth and global competitiveness, aligning with the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047.
Significance of the Guidelines
As Artificial Intelligence increasingly shapes governance, business, and social life, the need for a coherent governance framework has become urgent. India has made significant progress in AI infrastructure and capacity building. Under the IndiaAI Mission, over 38,000 GPUs have been onboarded through a subsidized national compute facility, and AIKosh hosts more than 9,500 datasets along with 273 sectoral models.
The National Supercomputing Mission has operationalized more than 40 petaflop systems, including AIRAWAT and PARAM Siddhi-AI. Capacity-building initiatives are supporting thousands of students and researchers, while AI Data Labs and IndiaAI Labs are expanding grassroots innovation. The new governance guidelines consolidate these gains and provide institutional clarity for responsible scaling.
AI Governance Philosophy
The framework is rooted in the idea of “AI for All”, combining sovereign capability with open innovation. It leverages public digital infrastructure, indigenous model development, and affordable compute. To develop the framework, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology constituted a drafting committee in July 2025, which examined existing laws, global developments, and stakeholder feedback. The committee presented a four-part framework covering principles, recommendations, action plans, and practical guidelines.
Seven Guiding Principles or Sutras
The foundation of the framework rests on seven core principles:
- Trust is the foundation: Trust must be embedded across the AI value chain, including technology, institutions, developers, and users.
- People first: AI systems must strengthen human agency and remain subject to meaningful human oversight.
- Innovation over restraint: Governance should enable innovation and socio-economic progress while managing risks proportionately.
- Fairness and equity: AI systems should avoid bias and discrimination, particularly against marginalized communities.
- Accountability: Responsibility must be clearly assigned across developers, deployers, and users based on function and risk.
- Understandable by design: AI systems should incorporate transparency and explainability.
- Safety, resilience, and sustainability: Systems must be robust, environmentally responsible, and equipped with safeguards to minimize harm.
Key Areas of Reform
The guidelines outline recommendations across six pillars: infrastructure, capacity building, policy and regulation, risk mitigation, accountability, and institutions.
In infrastructure, the framework emphasizes expanded compute access, improved data governance, and integration of AI with Digital Public Infrastructure such as Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface, DigiLocker, and Government e-Marketplace. This integration is expected to enable scalable and inclusive public service delivery.
In capacity building, the focus is on expanding AI education, vocational training, grassroots labs in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and training government officials to handle AI-enabled risks. In policy and regulation, the approach builds on existing legal frameworks, recommending targeted amendments and using regulatory sandboxes to test emerging technologies.
Addressing Risks
AI systems can introduce risks such as misinformation, bias, cyberattacks, and systemic vulnerabilities. The guidelines propose developing an India-specific AI risk assessment and classification framework, along with establishing a national federated AI incident reporting mechanism to systematically collect and analyze AI-related harms. Special emphasis is placed on protecting vulnerable groups, including children and women, from exploitative AI systems.
Proposed Institutional Mechanisms
To ensure a whole-of-government approach, the framework proposes new institutional structures. An AI Governance Group will coordinate overall policy development, while a Technology and Policy Expert Committee will provide expert inputs on domestic and international AI issues. An AI Safety Institute will focus on safety research and standards development.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will act as the nodal ministry, while NITI Aayog will provide strategic vision and cross-sectoral coordination.
Action Plan
The action plan is phased across short, medium, and long terms. In the short term, the focus will be on establishing institutions and preparing AI incident reporting mechanisms. In the medium term, common standards on content authentication, data integrity, fairness, and cybersecurity will be published. In the long term, India aims to create an agile, future-ready AI governance ecosystem.
Guidance for Industry and Regulators
The guidelines emphasize compliance with existing Indian laws for industry participants, alongside transparency reporting and grievance redressal mechanisms. For regulators, the framework advises proportionate intervention and flexible policymaking informed by stakeholder feedback.
Conclusion: India’s AI Future
The India AI Governance Guidelines represent a pragmatic attempt to balance innovation and safeguards. By rooting AI governance in trust, inclusion, and accountability, India aims to position itself as a leader in AI capability and a responsible global voice in AI governance. If effectively implemented, the framework could ensure that AI contributes meaningfully to economic transformation, social empowerment, and the national aspiration of Viksit Bharat 2047, while protecting citizens from emerging technological risks.
