India unveiled a set of artificial intelligence (AI) guidelines last week, outlining how it wants to regulate and promote the technology.

The move comes as New Delhi prepares to host a major AI summit at the start of 2026.

The guidelines advocate using existing legal frameworks — like the Information Technology Act and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act — to handle emerging risks such as deepfakes and unauthorized data use.

"India's AI governance adopts a balanced, agile and flexible approach that promotes innovation and safety," Amal Mohanty, AI policy expert and one of the lead authors of the guidelines, told DW.

He said India's approach is different to the rules charted by the EU, China and the US.

"Unlike the EU's detailed AI Act that imposes strict, rule-based obligations based on risk classification, ours favors self-regulation and voluntary measures," he said. "This allows developers more freedom to innovate while managing AI risks responsibly."

Rapid pace of AI adoption in India

India ranks among the global leaders in AI adoption and innovation, mainly due to its youthful, tech-savvy population.

Millions of workers and consumers in the world's most populous country are embracing the technology at an unprecedented rate.

From health care and agriculture to fintech and public services, AI is becoming a central part of digital growth.

A recent report by Boston Consulting Group states that 92% of employees involved in customer service, operations and production activities in India are already using AI at work, the highest rate in the Asia-Pacific region and well above the global average of 72%.

"We are still in the early stages of the AI lifecycle. It is like the dial-up internet era of AI. I strongly believe now is not the time to set roadblocks in front of AI innovation," Paul Emmanuel, founder and CEO of Two Minute Reports, told DW.

Emmanuel's company, which is involved in design and development of AI-driven data analytics and reporting tools for marketers, said the focus should be on widespread public awareness, education and upskilling to ensure vulnerable groups are not blindsided by AI advancement.

"The Indian government's light-touch approach is going to help local businesses compete better globally. More importantly, it helps build the talent and technological know-how to be ready for future demands and challenges of AI," said Emmanuel.

Working within existing laws

But Urvashi Aneja, founder and executive director of Digital Futures Lab, a research and advisory firm, pointed out that the guidelines do not flesh out how India's AI objectives will be achieved.

"For example, how is data usability and sharing going to be enhanced? Improving access to public sector data to spur innovation has been a long-standing goal but data quality continues to be poor," she told DW.

Aneja also said there is a patchy understanding of the risks involved.

"This narrow view on AI risks mean the guidelines are silent on issues such as labor displacement, psychological and environmental harms. Equally glaring is the absence of any discussion on market concentration," she underlined.

A core element of the guidelines is the "Do No Harm" principle, which officials hope will manage AI risks effectively without stifling technological growth.

Another important point is content authentication to help distinguish authentic content from AI-produced or modified material.

The government has already proposed amendments to existing IT rules that require social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram to visibly label AI-generated or synthetically modified content. Visual labels are to cover at least 10% of the display area, while audio content must include audible labels for at least 10% of the duration.

These measures aim to enhance transparency and help users distinguish authentic from AI-manipulated content, making them less susceptible to misinformation and deepfakes.

What makes India different on AI?

Yash Shah, co-founder and CEO of Momentum91, a custom software development company, said the new AI guidelines take a very "India first" route. He described the rules as practical, flexible and built for a country where innovation often outpaces infrastructure.

"Think of the EU approach as airport security. It is meticulous, mandatory, and sometimes painfully slow. India's approach is more like metro security. It is efficient, situational, and designed to keep people moving," Shah told DW.

"For example, a fintech startup in Bengaluru can deploy an AI underwriting model faster under India's voluntary safeguards than it could under the EU's mandatory risk classification system," he added.

"Similarly, an edtech company experimenting with personalized learning tools doesn't have to wrestle with multi-layer compliance before even testing its product," said Shah, explaining why the framework is simply better suited to India's scale and complexity.

Overall, the current framework advocates governing AI applications specifically, not the technology itself.

It also stands in contrast with China's technology-specific rules and the US' evolving, more fragmented policies.

Pawan Duggal, India's foremost cybersecurity expert, told DW that the Indian government is committed to widespread dissemination and adoption of AI to encourage innovation so that it can become a vehicle and catalyst for economic growth.

But, he said, it must be grounded in a proper legal framework.

"First and foremost, these are only guidelines, which do not have the force of law. There are no legal consequences if stakeholders do not follow the said guidelines," said Duggal.

"India requires a distinct and dedicated law on AI. It needs to grant legal recognition and conditional personality rights to AI, while dealing with the contentious issues of liability, accountability, and transparency, including sustainable AI."

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru