diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 7b46087..a5eb8d9 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ var (
 		"devices":        hclspec.NewAttr("devices", "list(string)", false),
 		"entrypoint":     hclspec.NewAttr("entrypoint", "any", false), // any for compat
 		"working_dir":    hclspec.NewAttr("working_dir", "string", false),
+		"group_add":      hclspec.NewAttr("group_add", "list(string)", false),
 		"hostname":       hclspec.NewAttr("hostname", "string", false),
 		"image":          hclspec.NewAttr("image", "string", true),
 		"image_pull_timeout": hclspec.NewDefault(
@@ -225,6 +226,7 @@ type TaskConfig struct {
 	Devices           []string           `codec:"devices"`
 	Entrypoint        any                `codec:"entrypoint"` // any for compat
 	WorkingDir        string             `codec:"working_dir"`
+	GroupAdd          []string           `codec:"group_add"`
 	Hostname          string             `codec:"hostname"`
 	Image             string             `codec:"image"`
 	ImagePullTimeout  string             `codec:"image_pull_timeout"`
diff --git a/config_test.go b/config_test.go
index 852c5a9..9934be2 100644
--- a/config_test.go
+++ b/config_test.go
@@ -168,3 +168,20 @@ func TestConfig_PodmanOOMScoreAdj(t *testing.T) {
 	parser.ParseHCL(t, validHCL, &tc)
 	must.Eq(t, "default", tc.Socket)
 }
+
+func TestConfig_GroupAdd(t *testing.T) {
+	ci.Parallel(t)
+
+	parser := hclutils.NewConfigParser(taskConfigSpec)
+	expectedGroups := []string{"audio", "video"}
+	validHCL := `
+  config {
+	image = "docker://redis"
+	group_add = ["audio", "video"]
+  }
+`
+
+	var tc *TaskConfig
+	parser.ParseHCL(t, validHCL, &tc)
+	must.SliceContainsAll(t, expectedGroups, tc.GroupAdd)
+}
diff --git a/driver.go b/driver.go
index a57ab51..4b9367d 100644
--- a/driver.go
+++ b/driver.go
@@ -731,6 +731,11 @@ func (d *Driver) StartTask(cfg *drivers.TaskConfig) (*drivers.TaskHandle, *drive
 	createOpts.ContainerSecurityConfig.ReadOnlyFilesystem = podmanTaskConfig.ReadOnlyRootfs
 	createOpts.ContainerSecurityConfig.ApparmorProfile = podmanTaskConfig.ApparmorProfile
 
+	// add group_add if configured
+	if groupAddErr := parseGroupAdd(podmanTaskConfig.GroupAdd, &createOpts); groupAddErr != nil {
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse group_add configuration: %w", groupAddErr)
+	}
+
 	// add security_opt if configured
 	if securiyOptsErr := parseSecurityOpt(podmanTaskConfig.SecurityOpt, &createOpts); securiyOptsErr != nil {
 		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse security_opt configuration: %w", securiyOptsErr)
@@ -1744,8 +1749,37 @@ func setExtraHosts(hosts []string, createOpts *api.SpecGenerator) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// ensureAnnotations initializes the Annotations map if it's nil
+func ensureAnnotations(createOpts *api.SpecGenerator) {
+	if createOpts.Annotations == nil {
+		createOpts.Annotations = make(map[string]string)
+	}
+}
+
+// parseGroupAdd parses group-add options and sets them in the container creation specification.
+func parseGroupAdd(groupAdd []string, createOpts *api.SpecGenerator) error {
+	ensureAnnotations(createOpts)
+
+	if slices.Contains(groupAdd, "keep-groups") {
+		// "keep-groups" is a special value that is interpreted by crun via annotations
+		// to retain the original user's supplementary groups.
+		// This is mutually exclusive with any other group-add options.
+		if len(groupAdd) > 1 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("the '--group-add keep-groups' option is not allowed with any other --group-add options")
+		}
+		createOpts.Annotations["run.oci.keep_original_groups"] = "1"
+	} else {
+		// Regular group additions as a list of group names.
+		createOpts.ContainerSecurityConfig.Groups = groupAdd
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+
 func parseSecurityOpt(securityOpt []string, createOpts *api.SpecGenerator) error {
-	createOpts.Annotations = make(map[string]string)
+	ensureAnnotations(createOpts)
+
 	for _, opt := range securityOpt {
 		con := strings.SplitN(opt, "=", 2)
 		if len(con) == 1 && con[0] != "no-new-privileges" {
diff --git a/driver_test.go b/driver_test.go
index 04b9a56..b14268e 100644
--- a/driver_test.go
+++ b/driver_test.go
@@ -1661,6 +1661,55 @@ func TestPodmanDriver_Caps(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// check group_add option
+func TestPodmanDriver_GroupAdd(t *testing.T) {
+	taskCfg := newTaskConfig("", busyboxLongRunningCmd)
+	// add a group_add
+	taskCfg.GroupAdd = []string{"audio", "video"}
+	inspectData := startDestroyInspect(t, taskCfg, "groupadd")
+	// and compare it
+	must.SliceContains(t, inspectData.HostConfig.GroupAdd, "audio")
+	must.SliceContains(t, inspectData.HostConfig.GroupAdd, "video")
+}
+
+// check group_add option with keep-groups special case
+func TestPodmanDriver_GroupAdd_KeepGroups(t *testing.T) {
+	taskCfg := newTaskConfig("", busyboxLongRunningCmd)
+	// add a group_add
+	taskCfg.GroupAdd = []string{"keep-groups"}
+	inspectData := startDestroyInspect(t, taskCfg, "groupadd-keep-groups")
+	// and compare it
+	must.NotNil(t, inspectData.Config.Annotations["run.oci.keep_original_groups"])
+	must.Eq(t, inspectData.Config.Annotations["run.oci.keep_original_groups"], "1")
+}
+
+// check group_add option with keep-groups special case
+// with other groups - should error
+func TestPodmanDriver_GroupAdd_KeepGroupsWithOthersError(t *testing.T) {
+	ci.Parallel(t)
+
+	taskCfg := newTaskConfig("", busyboxLongRunningCmd)
+	// try to combine keep-groups with other groups - should error
+	taskCfg.GroupAdd = []string{"keep-groups", "audio"}
+
+	task := &drivers.TaskConfig{
+		ID:        uuid.Generate(),
+		Name:      "groupadd-error",
+		AllocID:   uuid.Generate(),
+		Resources: createBasicResources(),
+	}
+	must.NoError(t, task.EncodeConcreteDriverConfig(&taskCfg))
+
+	d := podmanDriverHarness(t, nil)
+	cleanup := d.MkAllocDir(task, false)
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	_, _, err := d.StartTask(task)
+	// should fail with error about keep-groups being mutually exclusive
+	must.Error(t, err)
+	must.StrContains(t, err.Error(), "keep-groups")
+}
+
 // check security_opt option
 func TestPodmanDriver_SecurityOpt(t *testing.T) {
 	taskCfg := newTaskConfig("", busyboxLongRunningCmd)