Census 2027: Union Cabinet approves Rs 11,718 cr for gigantic exercise

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday approved the proposal to conduct the Census of India 2027 at a cost of Rs 11,718 crore, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a press statement.

Hailed as the largest administrative and statistical exercise in the world, Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, with house listing and housing census from April to September 2026 and population enumeration in February 2027.

Advertisement

“For the UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of UT of Jammu & Kashmir and states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, PE shall be conducted in September 2026,” the ministry said.

According to the release, about 30 lakh field functionaries will complete the “gigantic exercise” of national importance.

The government will use a mobile application for data collection and a central monitoring portal to ensure better quality data.

Field functionaries will visit each and every household and have a separate questionnaire for Houselisting and Housing Census, and Population Enumeration.

The Census 2027 will be India’s 16th census and 8th after Independence. The exercise cover the entire population in the country.

Census is considered the most accurate and biggest source of primary data at village, town and ward level. It will provide micro level data on various parameters including housing condition, amenities & assets, demography, religion, SC & ST, language, literacy & education, economic activity, migration and fertility.