India AI Law Coming Soon: Government to Issue AI Regulation Consultation Paper in Coming Weeks

India is about to start work on its first AI law. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday, 23 October 2026, that the government will issue a consultation paper on AI regulation in the coming weeks — and that the paper will seek inputs from citizens, society and industry before any law is framed.

India AI Law: Quick Facts

• What was announced: a consultation paper on AI legislation, coming in the coming weeks.
• Who announced it: Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, at an NDTV event in New Delhi on 23 October 2026.
• What it means: the government will gather public and industry feedback first — no AI law text has been released yet.
• Why now: Vaishnaw said AI risks have “crossed a threshold” where law and new regulations are needed, and pointed to harms from the technology that can be regulated.
• What else was announced: made-in-India mobile phone brands designed and manufactured locally by October 2028, and the first made-in-India chip also by 2028.

What Vaishnaw Actually Said

“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 at the event. “We are already working on it. We will come up with a consultation paper in the coming weeks. We are drafting the consultation paper, and that paper will gather inputs from society, citizens and industry.”

He added that AI has been adopted “very aggressively” by industry, and that the government wants inputs from users of AI as well as from companies. He also said global AI giants — among the top three or four AI ecosystems in the world — need to work jointly on fundamental principles of the technology.

Why an AI Law Matters for Every User

An AI law will not just affect big tech companies. It could decide how AI tools handle your photos, voice and data, how deepfakes are treated, and what responsibility AI companies carry when their systems go wrong. That is why the consultation stage matters: it is the point where ordinary users can actually shape the rules.

Reports around the announcement also point to recent cases of rogue AI agents accessing Indian organisations without authorisation, disclosed by AI providers and investigated by CERT-In — one reason the government is moving now. Treat the detail as reported background, not as part of the official announcement itself.

What Happens Next

• Coming weeks: the government releases the AI consultation paper.
• Then: citizens, researchers and companies send in feedback.
• After that: the government drafts the actual AI law based on those inputs — a process that will take months, not days.
• Alongside: work continues on made-in-India phones and chips, targeted for October 2028.

What This Does Not Mean Yet

This announcement is not a law, not a ban and not a set of fines. No AI tool is being blocked, and no new rule applies to users today. The consultation paper is the first step — the actual rules will only come after feedback and drafting. We will update this post when the paper is published.

Our take: starting with a public consultation instead of a rushed law is the right order — AI affects everyone who uses a phone, so everyone should get a say before the rules are written.

Related reading: another recent tech rule with a hard deadline is the WhatsApp SIM-binding rule from 1 January 2027. For the AI tools themselves, see our AI Photo Editing Prompts and ChatGPT Photo Editing Prompts.

Should India have a strict AI law, or a light-touch one that lets innovation grow? Tell us in the comments.