# India

- **Record type**: Jurisdiction profile
- **Short name**: India
- **ISO code**: IN
- **Type**: country
- **Region**: Asia / South Asia

## In brief

India has 4 recorded AI policy instruments, 1 of them binding and 1 in force. No binding cross-sector AI law. Regulators include Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), IndiaAI (Independent Business Division under Digital India Corporation), NITI Aayog. India has no dedicated AI statute.

## Overview

India has no dedicated AI statute. AI governance rests on the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and its 2025 Rules, the Information Technology Act 2000 and the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 as applied to AI and synthetic media, sector regulators such as the RBI and SEBI, and a series of policy documents: NITI Aayog's Responsible AI approach papers, the IndiaAI Mission approved in March 2024, and the India AI Governance Guidelines released by MeitY in November 2025. The stated approach favours enabling innovation with light-touch, principle-based governance and existing-law enforcement.

## Regulatory status

No binding cross-sector AI law. Binding obligations arise from the DPDP Act 2023 (phased commencement under the November 2025 Rules), the IT Act and intermediary rules, and sector regulation. The India AI Governance Guidelines (November 2025) are non-binding. A reviewer must confirm the commencement schedule of the DPDP Rules.

## What is binding and what is guidance

Binding: DPDP Act 2023 and DPDP Rules 2025 (phased), IT Act 2000 and IT Rules 2021, Consumer Protection Act 2019, sector rules (RBI, SEBI, IRDAI). Guidance: India AI Governance Guidelines 2025, NITI Aayog Responsible AI papers, MeitY advisories to intermediaries on AI models and deepfakes.

## Current priorities

Implementing the IndiaAI Mission (compute, datasets, safety institute), operationalising DPDP consent and breach rules, addressing deepfakes and synthetic media through intermediary rules, and the AI Safety Institute.

## Regulators

- Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) — IT Act, DPDP Act, IndiaAI Mission, AI governance — https://www.meity.gov.in/
- IndiaAI (Independent Business Division under Digital India Corporation) — IndiaAI Mission implementation — https://indiaai.gov.in/
- NITI Aayog — National AI strategy and Responsible AI papers — https://www.niti.gov.in/

## How to use this profile

- Treat the DPDP Act as the primary binding constraint for AI processing personal data of Indian residents.
- If you operate a platform or intermediary, review IT Rules 2021 duties on synthetic media and AI models.
- Use the India AI Governance Guidelines as the reference for regulator expectations and voluntary commitments.
- Check sector rules (RBI for lending and credit scoring, SEBI for markets, IRDAI for insurance).

## Official sources

- Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 — Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology — https://www.meity.gov.in/data-protection-framework
- IndiaAI Mission — IndiaAI / MeitY — https://indiaai.gov.in/

## Instruments recorded for this jurisdiction (4)

- **Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and DPDP Rules, 2025** — Act / statute, Partially applicable, binding
  - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/india-dpdp-act
  - Context file: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/india-dpdp-act.md
- **India AI Governance Guidelines (MeitY, 2025)** — Guidance, Guidance, non-binding
  - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/india-ai-governance-guidelines
  - Context file: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/india-ai-governance-guidelines.md
- **IndiaAI Mission** — National strategy, Adopted, non-binding
  - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/india-indiaai-mission
  - Context file: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/india-indiaai-mission.md
- **National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (#AIforAll)** — National strategy, Adopted, non-binding
  - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/india-national-strategy-for-artificial-intelligence
  - Context file: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/india-national-strategy-for-artificial-intelligence.md

## Provenance

- **Record page**: https://aipolicytracker.org/jurisdictions/india
- **Official source**: https://www.meity.gov.in/
- **Source document**: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology — official site
- **Published by**: Government of India
- **Review status**: verified
- **Confidence**: medium
- **Facts last confirmed**: 2026-09-26
- **Confirmed by**: Bhaskar Bhatt (see https://aipolicytracker.org/reviewers)
- **Retrieved**: 2026-10-27
- **Licence**: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

> This record is a structured summary with a link to the official text. It is not legal advice. Open the official source before relying on any date or duty. How current each record type must be is published at https://aipolicytracker.org/verification; what a record must carry at all is published at https://aipolicytracker.org/coverage.