Lok Sabha Question No. 4206 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-18
Subject: Government Datasets Shared to Private Technology Platforms
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Neeraj Maurya, Shri Devesh Shakya, Shri Pushpendra Saroj, Adv Priya Saroj

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4206

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 18.03.2026

## GOVERNMENT DATASETS SHARED TO PRIVATE TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS

## 4206.   SHRI PUSHPENDRA SAROJ:

SHRI NEERAJ MAURYA:

ADV PRIYA SAROJ:

SHRI DEVESH SHAKYA:

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

- (a)  the  number  and  categories  of  Government  datasets  shared  or  made  accessible  to  private technology platforms during the last five years, year and sector-wise;
- (b)  whether  such  datasets  were  anonymised,  aggregated  or  contained  personally  identifiable information and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the number of public -private partnerships granted access to Digital Public Infrastructure such as Aadhaar authentication, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), DigiLocker or similar platforms and the conditions and safeguards governing for such access;
- (d) the number of complaints, data breach reports or representations received regarding misuse of public data or unauthorised commercial exploitation of digital public infrastructure;
- (e)  whether  any  independent  audit  or  internal  review  has  identified  gaps  in  data  minimisation, consent architecture or data-retention practices and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f)  the  regulatory  safeguards,  accountability  mechanisms  and  penalties  introduced  to  prevent misuse of Government-held data by private entities?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

- (a) to  (f):  India  has  established  an  interconnected  ecosystem  of  data  and  digital  infrastructure platforms. These are designed to promote innovation, transparency and public service delivery through open, regulated and sector-specific access frameworks.

The datasets are made available through Government data platforms such as:

1. AIKosh  under  IndiaAI  Mission  is  a  sovereign AI-artefact  hub  offering  pre-trained AI models  and  datasets  across  sectors  such  as  agriculture,  healthcare,  education,  governance, environment and finance.
2. These models and other features of AIKosh can be accessed from www.aikosh.com.
2. Open Government Data Platform / Bharat Data Platform (data.gov.in) provides open access to government datasets under the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP). It is

the  largest  repository  of  open  government  data  in  India,  promoting  transparency  and  public participation.

The platform provides about 4.54 lakh datasets and 2.36 lakh APIs, covering a wide range of sectors like agriculture, health, education, transport, energy, environment and governance.

As of April 2025, it has been subsumed into the broader Bharat Data Platform (BDP), creating a unified data ecosystem for government, academia and startups.

3. National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) is a platform developed by NITI Aayog which  aggregates  and  standardises  datasets  from  multiple  ministries  into  a  single  platform.  It makes  government data more  comparable and accessible for researchers, startups, and policymakers to support evidence-based decision.

It  hosts around 6362 datasets across 31 sectors and 53 ministries. It provides standardized and interoperable datasets in areas such as economy, health, education, labour and infrastructure. These datasets are available for access at https://ndap.niti.gov.in.

4. UPI exemplifies sector-specific data access. Finance and Payments data are made available through  APIs  linked  to  the  Unified  Payments  Interface  ecosystem,  thereby  enabling  fintech innovation at scale.
5. Ayushman  Bharat  Digital  Mission  maintains  health  record  data  and  enables  sharing through digital health exchanges, alongside Aadhaar-based identity and authentication APIs.

This forms the backbone of India's health data infrastructure by creating an integrated digital health ecosystem, rather than publishing open datasets.

While  OGD  provides  the  largest  volume  of  open  data,  NDAP  enhances  usability  through standardization, AIKosh supports AI innovation, UPI supports fintech growth and ABDM builds a secure health data infrastructure.

Together, these platforms reflect India's strategy of building open, federated, and sector-specific data infrastructure to power AI development, public service delivery, and research.

Several start-ups and entities access the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) like Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), DigiLocker and other data platforms through regulated frameworks.

Complaints related to unauthorized access to personal data, fraudulent financial transactions and data  scraping  are  handled  by  sector  regulators  (e.g.,  banking,  telecom),  National  Cybercrime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in), CERT-In and platform-specific grievance systems.

Comprehensive  security  audit  has  been  done  for  the  data.gov.in  portal.  UIDAI  also  conducts periodic audits of its systems. Similarly, internal reviews and security audits are conducted by other concerned organizations like banks and Ministries/Departments.

These  audits  periodically  examine  issues  relating  to  consent  architecture,  data  retention  and security safeguards, and necessary improvements are subsequently undertaken to fill the gaps. Indian  legal  and  regulatory  frameworks  also  exist  to  prevent  its  misuse  in  this  regard  include Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, Information Technology Act 2000 and sector-specific guidelines from regulators like UIDAI, RBI, etc.

The different types of penalties include financial penalties for data misuse, suspension of API access, revocation of platform licenses and criminal penalties in severe cases. For example, the DPDP Act introduces significant financial penalties for data breaches or non-compliance.

The safeguards consist of mandatory user consent, purpose limitation (data used only for stated purpose), data minimisation, security safeguards and encryption and independent audits.

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