https://cointelegraph.com/news/suddenly-bitcoin-to-be-officially-legal-in-india
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcoin-finally-legal-in-india-2021761
posted Jule 20, 2017
https://cointelegraph.com/news/suddenly-bitcoin-to-be-officially-legal-in-india
Bitcoin exchanges in India have been able to operate but they have been self-regulating using strict Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering measures (https://veratad.com/solutions/identity-verification/) in place. These areas will now fall under government regulation.
Funny side note--a member of the parliament in India likened Bitcoin to a Ponzi scheme as recently as March of this year. Pretty wild.
"In a letter to the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India, Somaiya explained that Bitcoin is a pyramid Ponzi-type scheme. However, Somaiya was criticized for his inability to understand the structural and fundamental difference between a Ponzi scheme and Bitcoin."
That June 20 article from Cointelegraph is a classic example of clickbait. Bitcoin isn't illegal in India, but it is still not officially legal. The government is planning to regulate bitcoin, but working on the legal framework and bitcoin would come under goods and services tax.
But in what may be come as a relief to bitcoin-watchers, a government official privy to the development told Moneycontrol that bitcoin and other virtual currencies are unlikely to be declared illegal in India.
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/exclusive-bitcoin-unlikely-to-be-declared-illegal-in-india-regulatory-ownership-not-decided-yet-2326247.html
Unlike the old article with no factual content, this one does make sense, https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-to-be-taxed-like-gold-in-india