India: new guidelines for AI governance, green light from the Ministry of Electronics and IT.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has published the "India AI Governance Guidelines", a "techno-legal" regulatory framework aimed at systematically guiding the development and use of artificial intelligence in India in a responsible, ethical and inclusive way.

The guidelines envisage an   evolving governance model, not aimed at immediate and generalised regulation, but at the gradual construction of institutional capacities, standards and operational controls in the AI sectors. The document is based on a set of seven guiding principles: trust, equity, responsibility, explainability, innovation before restriction, fairness and eco-sustainability.

Among the highlights:

• proposed establishment of new supervisory and coordination bodies (an "AI Safety Institute", a technical and policy expert committee, an AI governance group) with cross-cutting and sectoral competences;

• Establishing an AI risk classification framework, introducing regulatory sandboxes and standardised systems for reporting AI-related incidents in the medium term;

• confirms that many risks emerging from AI can be managed with existing rules (e.g. the Information Technology Act, as well as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act – DPDP, relating to the use of personal data for AI training) without the need for an immediate new law;

• a declared approach of the type "innovation first, regulation only if necessary", with a central focus on  the human-centric development  of AI, so that technology serves people and improves daily life.

These guidelines provide a strong signal to foreign companies and investors in India who intend to use AI or work with local partners:

• it is essential to monitor regulatory and institutional developments, as the regulatory framework is under construction and could soon result in specific obligations;

• the use of regulatory sandboxes proposed by the Indian government could represent an opportunity to experiment with AI solutions in a "protected" environment;

• companies will have to ensure that their AI systems are consistent with the principles of fairness, explainability and accountability, and prepare for transparency, incident reporting and internal governance of AI;

• the focus on innovation means that those operating in India will be able to benefit from an environment conducive to AI development, as long as compliance and risk mitigation measures are integrated from the outset.