The government will begin consultations on proposed legislation to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) in the coming weeks, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday. The process will involve gathering inputs from citizens, industry and other stakeholders through a consultation paper currently being drafted.
Speaking at an NDTV event on 23 October, Vaishnaw said the risks associated with AI had reached a point where legislation and new regulations were needed. He added that potential harms arising from the technology could be regulated.
“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. Having said that, 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,” Vaishnaw said.
He noted that AI adoption across industry had accelerated and said the government wanted to gather feedback from those using the technology. Vaishnaw also called for major global AI ecosystems to work together on fundamental principles governing the technology.
Indian Mobile Phone Brands By 2028
Vaishnaw also outlined the government’s plans for the domestic mobile phone industry, saying that Indian brands featuring locally designed and manufactured devices would be ready by October 2028.“This is 23rd October 2026. Please note it: 23rd October 2028. You will have Indian design, Indian manufactured, Indian brand of mobile phones,” he said.
The minister added that the first chip manufactured in India would also be ready by 2028. The government has introduced an incentive scheme to boost mobile phone production and encourage the development of Indian-designed and manufactured brands.Vaishnaw credited the expansion of electronics manufacturing and exports with helping build an ecosystem that could support India’s ambitions in global electronics production and design. He also criticised previous Congress-led governments for neglecting manufacturing over several decades.
Semiconductor Mission Expansion
On semiconductor manufacturing, Vaishnaw said the 12 projects approved under India Semiconductor Mission 1.0 would become operational soon. He added that the sixth plant would be inaugurated shortly.Under the second phase of the mission, the government aims to position India as a global centre for semiconductor design. Vaishnaw said around 20 per cent of the world’s design engineers were in India and highlighted the talent pipeline developed through more than 300 universities.
He said this workforce, alongside the country’s expanding semiconductor ecosystem, would support India’s ambition to become a global semiconductor design hub.
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