Why in News?

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) released the India AI Governance Guidelines 2025, a comprehensive document aimed at regulating, promoting, and governing the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India.
• The guidelines mark a major step in India’s preparation for hosting the AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi and align with global AI governance trends emerging from summits at Bletchley Park (U.K.), Seoul, and Paris.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Objectives of the Guidelines
• Key Recommendations
• Unique India-specific Features
• Alignment with Broader Government Initiatives
• Way Forward
• Conclusion

Objectives of the Guidelines:

• Harnessing AI for inclusive growth:
  • India’s goal is to leverage AI for inclusive development and global competitiveness, while mitigating risks to individuals and society.
  • India is now the world’s 2nd-largest user of Large Language Models (LLMs) after the U.S.
• Establishing a consistent regulatory framework:
  • The guidelines aim to provide a coherent policy mechanism for AI governance across government, industry, and academia.
  • The framework was finalized by a MeitY committee led by Balaraman Ravindran, head of the Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI), IIT Madras.

Key Recommendations:

• Foundational principles:
  • The framework is built on people-centricity, accountability, fairness, and explainability of AI systems.
  • It stresses transparency, ethical AI deployment, and risk-based oversight.
• Institutional mechanisms: Establishment of an AI Governance Group as an inter-ministerial body to coordinate between -
  • Ministries and sectoral regulators
  • NITI Aayog and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
  • Regulatory agencies like RBI (which has already released the FREE-AI Committee report for the financial sector).
• Role of private sector: Firms are encouraged to -
  • Ensure compliance with Indian laws
  • Adopt voluntary ethical AI frameworks
  • Publish transparency reports and establish grievance redressal systems
  • Implement techno-legal risk mitigation tools
• AI Safety Institute (AISI):
  • While no physical institute exists yet, an online AISI under the IndiaAI Mission will oversee safety standards and risk management.
  • Similar institutes operate in other countries to ensure responsible AI deployment.

Unique India-specific Features:

• Infrastructure and accessibility:
  • State governments are advised to expand AI infrastructure, enhance data and compute access, and promote AI adoption at local levels.
  • This aligns with the IndiaAI Mission’s (Graphics Processing Unit) GPU procurement initiative to provide shared computing resources.
• Cultural and linguistic representation: The guidelines advocate development of AI models in Indian languages using locally relevant datasets, to ensure cultural inclusivity and regional relevance.
• Intellectual property and legal reforms: Calls for copyright law amendments to address AI-generated content and intellectual property disputes.

Alignment with Broader Government Initiatives:

• Complementing ongoing programs:
  • Deepfake regulation: MeitY has proposed mandatory labelling of AI-generated images/videos for authenticity.
  • Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) integration: Recommends linking AI with Aadhaar, UPI, and other DPI for enhanced public service delivery.
  • Institutional coordination: Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has already formed a committee to integrate AI capabilities with Aadhaar systems.
• Policy flexibility: The government will act swiftly if the evolving AI landscape demands legislative intervention beyond the framework.

Way Forward:

• Establish legal backing: Enact a comprehensive AI regulation law ensuring accountability, privacy, and data security.
• Promote research collaboration: Strengthen ties between academia, startups, and government to advance ethical AI innovations.
• Capacity building: Upskill public and private sector personnel to understand AI governance, risk, and compliance.
• Public awareness: Launch campaigns to educate citizens about AI usage, risks, and grievance mechanisms.

Conclusion:

• The India AI Governance Guidelines 2025 represent a balanced approach between innovation and regulation.
• By focusing on ethical use, risk management, and inclusion, India aims to emerge as a global leader in responsible AI governance.
• The document lays the foundation for safe, equitable, and transparent AI integration into governance and the economy — reflecting the government’s vision of “AI for All” in the spirit of Digital India.