The White Paper, released by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government, emphasises the contours of a “techno-legal” AI governance framework that aims to mitigate risks while preserving flexibility and innovation.
New Delhi: The Centre on Friday released a White Paper titled “Strengthening AI Governance Through Techno-Legal Framework”, outlining India’s approach to building a trusted, accountable, and innovation-aligned artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem.
The White Paper, released by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government, emphasises the contours of a “techno-legal” AI governance framework that aims to mitigate risks while preserving flexibility and innovation.
It highlights India’s pro-innovation approach to AI governance, which integrates baseline legal safeguards, sector-specific regulations, technical controls, and institutional mechanisms.
“Developing a robust and responsive governance framework is not just a regulatory necessity but a prerequisite for sustaining the momentum of technological progress.
The techno-legal approach offers a viable pathway by embedding legal, technical, and institutional safeguards into AI systems by design,” PSA Ajay Kumar Sood said.
The White Paper defines the techno-legal approach as a practical and ecosystem-wide model that embeds governance directly into the design and operation of AI systems by default.
Key focus areas covered in the White Paper include understanding the techno-legal approach to AI governance; enabling safe and trusted AI across the full AI lifecycle; technological pathways for operationalising techno-legal governance; implementation considerations for India’s AI governance framework; and the development of techno-legal tools and compliance mechanisms.
‘Strengthening AI Governance Through Techno-Legal Framework’ outlines a comprehensive institutional mechanism to operationalise India’s AI governance ecosystem, emphasising that the success of any policy instrument depends on its effective implementation.The proposed framework aims to strengthen the broader AI governance ecosystem comprising industry, academia, government, AI model developers, deployers, and AI users.
Central to this initiative is the establishment of the AI Governance Group (AIGG), chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser. This group will coordinate between various government ministries, regulators, and policy advisory bodies to address “the current fragmentation in governance and operational processes”.
Within the techno-legal governance context, this coordination aims to establish uniform standards for responsible AI regulations and guidelines. The AIGG will be tasked with “promoting responsible AI innovation and the beneficial deployment of AI in key sectors” while identifying regulatory gaps and recommending necessary legal amendments.
Supporting the AIGG is a dedicated Technology and Policy Expert Committee (TPEC) to be housed within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). This committee will pool multidisciplinary expertise from areas such as Law, Public Policy, Machine Learning, AI safety, and cybersecurity.
The framework also introduces the AI Safety Institute (AISI), which will serve as the primary centre for “evaluating, testing, and ensuring the safety of AI systems deployed across sectors”.
The AISI is expected to support the IndiaAI mission by developing techno-legal tools to address content authentication, bias, and cybersecurity. It will generate risk reports and compliance reviews to inform policy decisions while facilitating cross-border collaboration with global safety institutes and standards-setting bodies.
To monitor post-deployment risks, a national AI Incident Database will be established to record, classify, and analyse safety failures, biased outcomes, and security breaches nationwide. This database will draw on global best practices, such as the OECD AI Incident Monitor, but remains “adapted to fit India’s sectoral realities and governance structures.”
Reports for this database will be submitted by public bodies, private entities, researchers, and civil society organisations.
The white paper further advocates for voluntary industry commitments and self-regulation. Industry-led practices, such as publishing transparency reports and conducting red-teaming exercises, are highlighted as vital for strengthening the techno-legal framework.
This publication is the second in the White Paper Series on “Emerging Policy Priorities for India’s AI Ecosystem”, an initiative by the OPSA that aims at deepening understanding and fostering informed discussion on critical AI policy issues.
The first White Paper in the series, released in December 2025, focused on “Democratising Access to AI Infrastructure”, highlighting the need to treat AI infrastructure as a shared national resource and identifying key enablers such as access to high-quality datasets, affordable computing resources, and integration with Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
These White Papers, framed as explanatory knowledge documents, are intended to support informed deliberations on various policy priorities to shape the evolving AI ecosystem and reinforce India’s catalytic role in shaping the global AI governance discourse, according to an official statement.
Agencies