The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday approved the scheme for conducting the Census of India 2027, allocating ₹11,718.24 crore for the country’s largest administrative and statistical exercise.
According to the government, Census 2027 will be the first fully digital Census, featuring mobile-based data collection, real-time monitoring through a centralised portal, and self-enumeration options for the public. The exercise will be conducted in two phases – the Houselisting and Housing Census between April and September 2026, followed by Population Enumeration (PE) in February 2027. In Ladakh and snow-bound regions of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, PE will be carried out in September 2026.
An estimated 30 lakh field personnel, including enumerators and supervisors, will be deployed across the country. Most of the enumerators will be government school teachers assigned Census duties in addition to their regular responsibilities.
For the first time, data will be collected entirely through mobile applications compatible with both Android and iOS. A newly developed Census Management & Monitoring System (CMMS) portal will track operations in real time. The Census will also include a web-based Houselisting Block (HLB) Creator application for charge officers and offer the public the option of self-enumeration.
The government said the digital systems come with enhanced security measures to ensure safe handling of the massive volume of data.
Following a decision by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on April 30, 2025, the upcoming Census will also include caste enumeration. Caste data will be captured electronically during the Population Enumeration phase.
The government estimates that over 18,600 technical personnel will be engaged for around 550 days at the local level, generating approximately 1.02 crore man-days of employment. Officials said the digital nature of the work will build technical capacity in data handling and monitoring, aiding future employment opportunities for those involved.
Authorities said efforts will be made to release Census results in the shortest possible time, with improved visualization tools and data accessibility down to the village and ward levels. Census-as-a-Service (CaaS) will allow ministries to access clean, machine-readable datasets for policymaking.
The 2027 exercise will be India’s 16th Census and the eighth since Independence. The Census, conducted under the Census Act, 1948 and Census Rules, 1990, provides the most comprehensive database on demographic, social and economic indicators at the micro level, covering parameters such as housing conditions, amenities, religion, language, education, economic activity, migration and fertility.
