India to issue AI law consultation paper in coming weeks

The government will start a consultation process for framing an AI law in the coming weeks, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday. Speaking at an NDTV event in New Delhi, the minister said the process would begin with a consultation paper that seeks views from citizens, industry and wider society.

"Today the time has come when the risks of AI have crossed a threshold where we should come up with a law and new regulations. Harms from the new technology can be regulated," Vaishnaw said. "We are drafting the consultation paper, and that paper will gather inputs from society, citizens and industry."

Vaishnaw said artificial intelligence has been adopted very aggressively by industry, and the government wants to collect inputs from users of the technology before framing the AI law. He added that global companies that rank among the top three or four AI ecosystems in the world need to work together on the fundamental principles of the technology.

What the AI law consultation will cover

The paper is expected to seek views on AI safety, a human-first approach to the technology, skilling, inclusion and the mitigation of harms such as deepfakes. Vaishnaw said the government wanted to understand the concerns and experiences of users before moving ahead with regulation.

The minister first set out the plan on October 8 at a New Delhi event marking the launch of the World Bank Group's World Development Report 2026, titled The Promise of Artificial Intelligence. He said then that he expected a consultation paper on AI regulation in India within a month, roughly by early November, and that the paper would focus on AI safety, humanity, skilling and inclusivity.

Such a paper sets out policy questions and invites responses before the government decides what measures to adopt. A paper expected within a month is not a completed AI law. The government has not yet said which activities would be covered, whether the outcome would be a standalone AI law or targeted amendments, who would enforce it, or what penalties might apply under the eventual AI law.

From the 2025 guidelines to a formal AI law

The new statements point to a possible change from India's 2025 AI Governance Guidelines, which favoured using existing laws and voluntary commitments, with new requirements considered only where gaps appeared. The latest remarks suggest the government is now weighing more formal AI regulation.

Ashwini Vaishnaw has framed the effort around managing harms while keeping humans in control of the technology. He has also said industry will carry substantial responsibility for addressing the risks linked to the AI law.

2028 target for made-in-India phones and chips

At the same event, Vaishnaw said Indian mobile phone brands designed and manufactured locally will be ready by October 2028. "This is 23rd October 2026. Please note it: 23rd October 2028. You will have Indian design, Indian manufactured, Indian brand of mobile phones," he said. He added that the first chip manufactured in India is also expected to be ready that year.

The government has introduced an incentive scheme to boost mobile phone production and encourage the development of locally designed and manufactured brands. Vaishnaw said India's electronics manufacturing industry had expanded significantly over the past 12 years, with the country emerging as a major exporter, and he blamed the Congress regime for ignoring manufacturing for several decades.