AI Regulation in India

India has no AI-specific law. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) released the India AI Governance Guidelines on 5 November 2025. They are voluntary, favour self-regulation, and advise against mandatory approvals or licensing for AI unless strictly necessary.

Binding duties come from other laws. Amendments to the IT Rules, in force from 20 February 2026, require platforms to label synthetically generated content and attach provenance metadata. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 applies to AI that processes personal data.

The IndiaAI Mission funds compute, datasets, and startups alongside responsible AI work. A 2024 advisory that required government approval before deploying under-tested AI models was withdrawn within two weeks. For now, organisations should focus on the IT Rules and data protection law.

Key themes

1.Voluntary India AI Governance Guidelines (November 2025)
2.2026 IT Rules on labelling synthetic content
3.Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023
4.IndiaAI Mission for compute and data

Regulatory frameworks and guidance(1)

Guideline

India AI Governance Guidelines (MeitY, 2025)

MeitY released the India AI Governance Guidelines on 5 November 2025 under the IndiaAI Mission. They are voluntary principles and recommendations that favour self-regulation over approvals or licensing. Binding labelling of AI-generated content comes separately from the 2026 amendments to India's IT Rules.

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