TLDR: India’s Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, announced that the country will soon introduce comprehensive techno-legal regulations to combat deepfakes. Speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2025, Vaishnaw emphasized a dual approach combining technical solutions with legal frameworks to safeguard society from AI-enabled disinformation, while simultaneously fostering innovation in India’s burgeoning AI sector, including the development of indigenous AI models and semiconductor production.
New Delhi, October 19, 2025 – India is poised to roll out a comprehensive techno-legal framework aimed at curbing the proliferation of deepfakes, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed at the NDTV World Summit 2025 in New Delhi on October 18. The announcement signals a proactive stance by the Indian government to address the growing threats posed by synthetic media, which can impersonate individuals and create false narratives.
Minister Vaishnaw articulated that India’s approach would be distinctly ‘techno-legal,’ asserting that ‘the world of AI cannot be regulated simply by passing a law. There has to be a technical solution to it. So that technical solution, plus a regulation combined with it is going to be more effective than, let’s say, the European Union, where they simply focus on regulating things.’ This strategy underscores a commitment to leveraging technological advancements for detection and mitigation alongside robust legal provisions.
The Minister highlighted the critical need to protect individual rights, stating, ‘It’s your right to make sure that your face and your voice should not be used in a harmful way for society. That’s the thought process by which we are approaching this topic. And we will very soon bring out regulations on the deepfakes.’ He acknowledged the dual nature of Artificial Intelligence, recognizing its potential for harmless novelty while warning of its capacity to ‘harm society in ways humans have never seen before.’
This regulatory push comes amidst India’s aggressive drive to establish itself as a global AI powerhouse. Vaishnaw detailed several key initiatives: India is actively supporting the development of six major AI models, with two slated to utilize approximately 120 billion parameters and designed to be ‘free from biases like Western models have.’ Furthermore, two domestic semiconductor assembly units, CG Semi and Kaynes, have commenced production, crucial for feeding the compute demands of AI development. The government is also attracting significant investment, including a $15 billion commitment from Google LLC for an AI facility in Visakhapatnam, and has made 38,000 GPUs available for AI development.
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The upcoming regulations build upon earlier advisories, such as the March 2024 Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) guidelines under the IT Rules 2021, which urged platforms to label AI-generated content and mitigate harms. The new framework is expected to introduce more enforceable rules, striking a delicate balance between fostering rapid AI innovation and safeguarding citizens’ rights, identities, and democratic processes from the misuse of deepfake technology.
