Strategic analysis · The Public Record Series · June 2025

Aligning India’s AI Governance for National Priorities and Global Leadership

Governing AI in India: Why Strategy Must Precede Mission

01 · Summary

What the report argues

The report argues that India governs AI through the IndiaAI Mission, an administrative programme under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, without a Cabinet-endorsed national strategy, a mandate for coordination across ministries, or sustained parliamentary oversight. It traces gaps in research capacity, industry orientation and defence AI, compares India with jurisdictions that have formal national strategies, and reviews Parliament's limited engagement through questions, committees, debates and private member bills. It sets out the risks this creates for strategic autonomy, for employment in a services-led economy, for public trust and for India's credibility in global AI forums. It recommends a Cabinet-endorsed National AI Strategy presented to Parliament, a clear mandate for IndiaAI, a Parliamentary Standing Committee on AI, and a national study of AI's impact on employment and society.

Download the full report (PDF)
Cover of Governing AI in India: Why Strategy Must Precede Mission

02 · Key findings

Key findings

  1. India has no Cabinet-approved national AI strategy. The Union Cabinet approved the IndiaAI Mission in March 2024 with an outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore over five years, but the Mission lacks a mandate to coordinate policy across ministries.
  2. India's AI ecosystem rests on a shallow research base, an IT industry oriented towards services and outsourcing rather than frontier AI, and venture capital that has treated India mainly as a consumer market.
  3. Between June 2019 and April 2025, 0.6% of questions in the Rajya Sabha and 0.4% in the Lok Sabha focused on AI, and there is no sustained parliamentary oversight of AI policy.
  4. The IMF estimates that 26% of India's workforce is exposed to generative AI, with 12% at risk of displacement. In 2024 the three largest Indian IT services companies reported a combined headcount decline of almost 65,000, and the report finds that current national AI initiatives do not sufficiently address employment transition.
  5. Recent AI advisory committees, some without formal public notification, include significant representation from global technology firms and industry, with limited room for civil society, labour representatives or elected officials, which the report identifies as a risk of policy capture.
  6. Without an indigenous, coordinated AI strategy, India risks strategic dependence on foreign technologies as AI becomes embedded in defence, intelligence and critical infrastructure.
Download the full report (PDF)
← All research