New Delhi: India has begun preparations for the world’s largest population census from April 1, 2026, marking a major shift as the exercise will be conducted fully digitally for the first time.
Addressing a press conference on March 30, Registrar General and Census Commissioner Shri Mritunjay Kumar Narayan said Census 2027 will be carried out in two phases, combining mobile-based data collection with an option for self-enumeration.
For the first time, citizens will be able to submit their details online through a secure portal in 16 languages ahead of the door-to-door survey. The self-enumeration window will run from April 1 to April 15, 2026, in selected regions including Delhi (NDMC and Cantonment areas), Goa, Karnataka, Odisha and Sikkim. This will be followed by the house listing and housing census from April 16 to May 15.
Enumerators will use smartphone applications to collect and upload data in real time, replacing traditional paper-based methods. The government has said robust data security measures are in place for both mobile and web platforms.
The second phase—population enumeration—will take place in February 2027, covering demographic, socio-economic and migration data. Caste enumeration will also be included in this phase.
With an approved outlay of ₹11,718 crore, the exercise will involve over three million enumerators and officials, making it the largest administrative and statistical operation in the world.
The reference date for Census 2027 is March 1, 2027, while snow-bound regions will follow an earlier timeline.
India’s last census was conducted in 2011. The upcoming exercise will be the 16th census overall and the 8th since Independence.
