MeitY Unveils India’s AI Governance Guidelines: Here’s What They Say

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) unveiled the India AI Governance Guidelines under the India AI Mission, aiming to create a safe AI innovation ecosystem in India.

The guidelines build on the January 2025 draft promoting self-regulation. S. Krishnan, Secretary at MeitY, said the focus is on using existing laws and keeping AI human-centric to serve people and manage risks.

The framework is built on six key pillars — enabling infrastructure, capacity building, policy and regulation, risk mitigation, accountability, and institutional development.

The release precedes the India AI Impact Summit scheduled for February 2026 in New Delhi. Abhishek Singh, CEO of the India AI Mission, said the guidelines were shaped by over 650 inputs and multiple subcommittee meetings, calling them a potential global model for AI governance.

The report emphasizes user consent, data transparency, and accountability, stating that the use of personal data for AI training must comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.

The guideline also mandates that AI systems be “understandable by design”, allowing regulators and users to clearly assess their functioning, and calls for grievance redressal mechanisms to prevent bias, discrimination, and misuse, including deepfakes.