India has established the AI Governance and Ethics Group (AIGEG), an inter-ministerial coordination body tasked with aligning AI policy across central government departments. The group includes the Principal Scientific Adviser, Chief Economic Adviser, CEO of NITI Aayog, and secretaries from the departments of telecommunications, economic affairs, and science and technology. AIGEG operates under the India AI Governance Guidelines released in November 2025 by MeitY.
The body’s mandate covers policy coherence rather than direct regulation. It does not possess enforcement powers; instead, it coordinates the application of existing legal frameworks — the Information Technology Act 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 — to AI-specific contexts. The guidelines explicitly reject a standalone AI law at this stage, favouring principle-based governance augmented by regulatory sandboxes.
Who it affects: All central government ministries and departments deploying or procuring AI systems. The AIGEG provides the institutional mechanism through which India’s non-legislative approach to AI governance is coordinated, but it does not directly bind state governments or the private sector.
What is notably missing: AIGEG is advisory and coordinating, not regulatory. It has no statutory mandate, enforcement powers, or independent budget. The guidelines do not create binding AI literacy obligations for either the public or private sector, and no penalties attach to non-compliance with the governance principles.