India Adopts Light-Touch AI Governance Framework 2025

Post by : Bianca Suleiman

On Wednesday, 5 November, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) published the India AI Governance Guidelines 2025, endorsing a light-touch regulatory stance intended to enable technological progress while maintaining essential safeguards.

The framework was developed under the leadership of Balaraman Ravindran, Head of Data Science and AI at IIT Madras, supplanting an earlier consultation led by Principal Scientific Adviser Ajay K. Sood. The shift reflects a deliberate move away from more prescriptive proposals in favour of a facilitative approach to AI policy.

The guidelines operate separately from the proposed IT Rules amendment that would require labels for AI-generated social media content, though both efforts underscore India’s heightened focus on stewarding AI’s rapid deployment responsibly.

Central to the report are seven guiding principles: trust, people-centricity, responsible innovation, equity, accountability, understandability, and safety with sustainability. These principles underpin an "AI for Good" ambition aimed at spurring economic and social benefits without unduly constraining experimentation.

Departing from earlier drafts influenced by NITI Aayog and OECD recommendations, the document tones down risk-centric language in favour of a flexible governance model. It highlights AI’s potential to advance inclusion through digital public infrastructure such as Aadhaar and recommends bolstering national capability through skills development and infrastructure expansion.

Among the report’s six principal recommendations are establishing institutional governance mechanisms, creating India-specific risk assessment frameworks, improving transparency across the AI value chain, and incorporating cybersecurity measures into AI oversight arrangements.

Officials emphasised there is no plan to introduce a standalone AI statute at this time. Instead, the government intends to adapt and extend existing regulatory instruments as technologies mature and risks become clearer.

Published ahead of the Delhi AI Impact Summit 2026, the guidelines position India as a pragmatic participant in global AI governance debates, seeking to balance innovation, accountability and public trust without imposing premature restrictions.