India favours a global co-ordination mechanism to regulate artificial intelligence (AI), Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister for electronics and IT, said at the Global IndiaAI Summit on Wednesday.

The Indian government has outlined a two-pronged approach to AI — that of harnessing its power and establishing safeguards, Vaishnaw said.

The upcoming India AI Mission will follow the twin approach. This mission is expected to be launched in two-three months with a budget of over ₹10,300 crore allocated for five years.

The mission, approved by the cabinet in March, aims to develop India’s AI ecosystem across seven pillars.

These include establishing a robust national AI computing infrastructure, fostering innovation through dedicated centres and creating a centralised platform for high-quality datasets — all crucial to nurturing domestic AI talent and research.

He said the government will invest in creating a public platform where computing power, high-quality data sets, a common set of protocols and technical and legal frameworks are available.

A similar approach has been followed for the digital public infrastructure in India, where no payment provider or service provider has a monopoly over the service. The government invests in the platform and everybody becomes a part of it.

Vaishnaw emphasised the mission’s commitment to “democratising technology”, ensuring that the benefits of AI are accessible to a wider range of stakeholders.

He acknowledged the growing global concern surrounding the potential misuse of AI for malicious purposes, including the spread of disinformation and manipulation of social discourse.

“While the potential of AI for positive transformation is undeniable. There is a huge realisation too about the dangers, risks, and threats to our social institutions.” He cited the recent Indian general elections as an example of how AI can be weaponised to sow discord.

The minister stressed the need for international collaboration on AI regulation, stating that solutions “cannot be done in isolation by any country”. He pointed to the ongoing efforts in Europe, the US, UK and India’s leadership role as the current chair of the General Partnership on AI .