Parliament Question: AI Ethical Certification Project

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 626

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 03.12.2025 AI ETHICAL CERTIFICATION PROJECT

626. DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

(a) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to upskill the workforce in Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance and development to address challenges posed by rapid AI adoption including potential job displacement;

(b) whether the AI Ethical Certification Project and Privacy Enhancing Strategy Project under the Ministry has established measurable objectives and timelines and if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the details of international collaborations or partnerships undertaken by the Government to co- develop ethical AI governance frameworks and standards? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

(a) to (c): India’s AI strategy is based on the Hon’ble Prime Minister's vision to democratise the use of technology. It aims to address India-centric challenges, create economic and employment opportunities for all Indians.

AI ecosystem in India at present:

India has a strong information technology ecosystem. It generates annual revenues of more than 250 billion dollars and provides employment to more than 6 million people.

Global rankings such as Stanford AI index place India among the top countries in AI skills, capabilities, and policies to use AI. India is also the second-largest contributor to GitHub AI projects, showcasing its vibrant developer community.

India’s AI strategy:

The government launched the IndiaAI mission in March 2024.

It is a strategic initiative to establish a robust and inclusive AI ecosystem aligned with India's development goals. It aims to develop a strong pool of AI-skilled professionals and to strengthen regional AI innovation across the country • 27 IndiaAI Data and AI Labs have been established in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, in collaboration with NIELITo Imparts foundation-level courses on AI, data and related fields such as Data Annotation, Data Curation, Data Cleaning, Data Science, etc • 174 ITIs and Polytechnics across 27 States/UTs approved for setting up additional IndiaAI Data and AI Labs • AI capacity building through fellowships for PhD, postgraduate & undergraduate students;

More than 228 fellowships awarded till date Safe and Trusted AI This pillar enables the implementation of Responsible AI projects, including the development of indigenous tools and frameworks, self-assessment checklists for innovators, and other guidelines and governance frameworks.

Eight Responsible AI Projects have been selected to address the need for robust guardrails to ensure the responsible development, deployment, and adoption of AI technologies.

The projects cover a range of critical themes, including Machine Unlearning, Synthetic Data Generation, AI Bias Mitigation, Ethical AI Frameworks, Privacy-Enhancing Tools, Explainable AI, AI Governance Testing, and Algorithm Auditing Tools.

AI Ethical Certification Project • Project titled “NishPaksh: Tools for Assessing Fairness of AI Models” • Led by IIIT Delhi in collaboration with Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), DoT • Objective: develop tools and a software platform to assess and rate fairness of AI models as per TEC’s fairness assessment standards • Deliverables include o Open-source fairness assessment toolbox and APIs o Documentation, test frameworks and reports • Intended users include industry, standards bodies and Government agencies Privacy Enhancing Strategy Project • Project “Robust Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning Models” is being led by IIT Delhi and supported by a consortium of academic and regulatory partners (IIIT Delhi, IIT Dharwad, TEC) • Aims to develop robust, privacy-preserving distributed/federated learning methods and associated certification and test procedures suitable for deployment in Indian wireless and adversarial environments • Advances federated learning, a technique that trains AI models without centralised data storage, while ensuring resilience against adversarial threats and communication challenges India has positioned itself at the forefront of global AI cooperation through active participation in multilateral platforms such as the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI). It has previously served as the Council Chair, as well as through its leadership during the G20 Presidency in 2023.

In addition, India also co-chaired the Paris AI Action Summit 2024 with France, underscoring its commitment to advancing inclusive, equitable, and innovation-friendly AI governance.India is set to host the India - AI Impact Summit 2026 from 16th to 20th February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

For the first time, the global series of AI summits will be hosted in the Global South, reflecting a decisive shift toward a more inclusive and representative global AI dialogue.

The Summit is structured around seven core pillars, including the Safe & Trusted AI pillar, which aims to advance the global adoption of responsible AI practices.

Under the IndiaAI Mission, MeitY has also released the IndiaAI Governance Guidelines on 5 November 2025. This comprehensive framework lays the foundation for safe, inclusive, and responsible AI deployment across sectors.

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