In AI world, regulation must keep pace with tech: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
New Delhi, Sep 15, 2025
If technology is on a sprint, regulation should also be on a sprint. We do not want regulation that literally wipes off the technology itself, says FM
Regulation has to keep pace with technology in a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly progressing and where it needs to be kept within check to serve the common good, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said.
Calling for a soft touch-approach in the regulatory mechanisms that do not kill technology, she said AI should help give solutions for creating better cities and urban areas.
“If the technology is on a sprint, regulation should also be on a sprint. We do not want regulation that literally wipes off the technology itself. We want regulations because we want responsible application,” Sitharaman said while addressing a NITI Aayog event.
Comparing the power of AI with the boon given to an asura (demon) to deliver benefits to humanity, Sitharaman said: “A good is never without riders, a good is never on its own good. It is for us all to use it in such a way that it is for the common good.”
The finance minister stressed the need for skilling the workforce in AI amid threats that 80 per cent of the people would get thrown out of job.
“I would think those are the set which is ready for you to think in terms of AI driven upskilling programs, on which I would want more inputs to come to the government,” she said speaking at the the launch of a report by the NITI Frontier Tech Hub on using AI to make India a developed economy.
Sitharaman highlighted that while AI adaptation by industry was critical and many were doing it, there was a mismatch in terms of AI-ready human resources.
“Industry today says: Alright, you are talking about joblessness, but get us people who are AI ready,” the minister said.
While elaborating on government initiatives such as upgrading industrial training initiatives, Sitharaman said unless training centres were equipped, people coming out of them would have a certificate that might not find currency among those who would employ them.
The minister said while the talk of application of AI was happening in sectors ranging from health to agriculture to space, it should not ignore its application for the betterment of urban spaces.
“We need to have a greater understanding that AI probably is capable of giving us in situ solutions without having to remove people from where they are, but keep them there, but give them the solutions which have been waiting for decades,” Sitharaman said.
The minister talked about India’s aspirations to become the leader in AI and not just ensuring that the country was not left behind or was at par with others.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India’s approach to AI would be innovation-first, adding that regulation would not become a means to choke innovation but a safeguard.
AI a $600 billion opportunity, says NITI report
According to the NITI Aayogs “AI for Viksit Bharat Roadmap Report”, also released on Monday, India’s combination of a large STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workforce, expanding R&D (research and ecosystem), and growing digital and technology capabilities position the country to participate in the global AI transformation, with the potential to capture 10-15 per cent of global AI value.
Placed against India’s economic outlook, this potential becomes more significant, said the report, adding that at its current growth rate of 5.7 per cent India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to reach $6.6 trillion by 2035. However, under the aspirational 8 per cent growth trajectory outlined in the government’s vision for the nation, known as “Viksit Bharat”, India’s GDP could increase to $8.3 trillion, representing an incremental $1.7 trillion compared with the current growth path.
The think tank’s analysis indicates that AI adoption could contribute an additional $500 billion-600 billion to India’s GDP by 2035, beyond the projected growth trajectory, driven by productivity improvement, operational efficiencies, and the reallocation of human effort to higher-value tasks.
The central think tank also launched a frontier tech repository, a curated platform of impact-driven technology use cases already solving real-life problems. Moreover, the NITI Aayog announced the Frontier 50 Initiative wherein the central think tank will support 50 “aspirational districts” and blocks to pick use cases from the repository and deploy those frontier technologies that have the potential to accelerate saturation of services across aspirational districts programme/aspirational blocks programme theme.
Given the widespread need for AI adoption and skilling, the finance minister recommended that the Aayog implement the programme across districts and not just the aspirational ones.
[The Business Standard]
