In a major step toward modernizing India’s data collection system, the Centre has officially set the wheels in motion for Census 2027, announcing that citizens will be able to submit their personal information online through a self-enumeration window from November 1 to 7, 2025. This marks the beginning of India’s first-ever digital and caste-inclusive Census.
According to the notification issued by Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, the pre-test exercise for the first phase — the Houselisting and Housing Census — will take place from November 10 to 30, 2025, across selected areas in all States and Union Territories. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has invoked the Census Act, 1948, extending its provisions for the pre-test under Section 17A.
“The pre-test will help test systems, identify challenges, and refine methods before the full-scale Census 2027,” officials said, noting that this phase is crucial to ensuring accuracy and efficiency in the upcoming population count.
The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases between April 1, 2026, and February 28, 2027 — the Houselisting Operation (HLO) and Population Enumeration (PE). The HLO will collect data on housing conditions, assets, and amenities, while the PE will gather demographic, socio-economic, and cultural details of every individual.
The reference date for the Census will be March 1, 2027, for most regions, while snow-bound areas in Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand will have October 1, 2026, as their reference date.
Over 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh Census functionaries will be mobilized for the massive exercise. This will be India’s 16th Census overall and the eighth since Independence, following a long gap since 2011 — as the 2021 Census was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials emphasize that the upcoming Census will be India’s most comprehensive and technologically advanced, offering deeper insights into the nation’s social, economic, and demographic structure than ever before.
