India will conduct its long-pending population census by March 1, 2027, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Wednesday (June 4, 2025). This will mark the country’s first digital census and the first since Independence to include a caste enumeration.
The exercise, to be carried out in two phases, will be completed by February 28, 2027, with March 1, 2027, set as the reference date. However, the government has yet to officially announce the start date. A formal notification outlining the Centre’s intent to conduct the census and the phase-wise schedule is expected to be published in the official gazette around June 16, as per Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948.
In line with constitutional provisions, this will be the first census post-2026 that can be used for redrawing Lok Sabha constituencies. The next general elections are anticipated in 2029.
The last census was carried out in 2011, while the subsequent one, originally scheduled for 2021, was postponed indefinitely, initially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 30, 2025, the Union Cabinet approved the inclusion of caste data in the upcoming census.
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Two-Phase Structure
In the Union Territory of Ladakh and snow-bound regions of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be 12 a.m. on October 1, 2026.
The census will follow the framework laid out by the Census Act, 1948, and Census Rules, 1990, and be executed in two stages: first, the house listing and housing schedule; and second, the population enumeration. Traditionally, both phases span 11 months, from April 1 to February 28. This time, caste details will be collected during the second phase.
For context, the previous census was held in two stages: the house listing from April to September 2010 and the population enumeration from February 9 to 28, 2011.
A senior official mentioned that the census process formally begins with a gazette notification. “The final phase will commence on February 27 and conclude on March 1, 2027,” the official stated.
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