India’s AI Rulebook Takes Shape: Safety, Deepfakes and Industry Accountability in Focus

India is preparing a regulation-focused framework for artificial intelligence, with Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw saying a consultation paper covering AI safety and emerging harms will be released within a month.

The proposed framework will follow a techno-legal approach, combining existing laws with technical safeguards rather than relying on legislation alone. The government has said stakeholders, including the technology industry, will be involved in shaping the regulatory framework.

Key areas expected to be covered include AI safety, deepfakes, misinformation, cybersecurity, user harm and psychological risks. Vaishnaw said deepfakes were becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from authentic content and could lead people to believe false information. He also said the industry should take primary responsibility for issues involving safety, cybersecurity, user protection and misuse of AI systems.

India’s AI Governance Guidelines, released in November 2025, provide a policy foundation for the approach. The guidelines set out seven principles covering trust, people-first development, innovation, fairness, accountability, explainability, and safety, resilience and sustainability. They favour proportionate and risk-based measures while allowing existing laws to address several areas.

A January 2026 government white paper on AI governance had outlined baseline legal safeguards, sector-specific rules, technical controls and institutional mechanisms as elements of a techno-legal model. The approach is intended to address risks while supporting continued AI adoption.

The IndiaAI Mission is also developing technology-based safeguards through its Safe & Trusted AI pillar. Projects include work on bias mitigation, algorithmic auditing, explainable AI, privacy-preserving systems and deepfake detection.

The government is simultaneously expanding AI-related skilling and infrastructure. SOAR (Skilling for AI Readiness) offers AI literacy and job-oriented courses through the Skill India Digital Hub, while IndiaAI Data and AI Labs are being established in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.