AI law in India soon? What Ashwini Vaishnaw said at NDTV world summit

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said that the Centre will issue a consultation paper on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the coming weeks.

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2026, Vaishnaw said the paper will incorporate inputs from both subject matter experts and common citizens.

"We'll be issuing a consultation paper in the coming weeks. That consultation paper will be where we will seek all the inputs from society, from citizens, from industries, and stakeholders," he said.

The announcement comes amid global debate over how governments should balance the economic opportunities offered by AI with concerns about safety and the extent to which human beings should retain control over these systems.

"AI has been adopted very aggressively by our industry. When we talk to the banks, we talk to manufacturing industries, service industries, finance, insurance, and financial services. Everywhere, people are rapidly using AI. There is a good understanding of what good AI can bring, and there is also an understanding of what harm AI can do. That's why that understanding is there today in various sectors. We would like to get input from each of the sectors," he added.

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Vaishnaw suggested that countries developing major AI ecosystems would have to work towards a common understanding of how the technology should be assessed, even as they compete to build more capable models and applications.

"Among the top three or top four AI ecosystems in the world, countries like us will all sit together and come up with some fundamental principles by which AI has to be judged," he said.

"The race towards innovation has to be moderated by the safety of human beings. Some principles have already been established. It has to be human first. AI has to be human-centric. It has to make sure that control over the agents, control over the models, control over the outcome that happens, and control over the processes are in human hands. There has to be some equivalent of stopping things if they go out of control. Those principles have already come up."

The union minister added that in 2028, India will have its own Apple and Samsung, the global industry's biggest players in smartphone business.

"This is 23 October 2026. Please note it: 23 October 2028. You will have Indian-designed, Indian-manufactured, Indian-branded mobile phones," Vaishnaw told NDTV World Summit in Delhi.