Setting the stage for the 2027 census, the 16th in the series and the eighth after independence, the Union cabinet approved a detailed operational plan and budget of ₹11,718.24 crore for the census of India 2027. This census will also hold a caste census, a politically and culturally sensitive exercise.

"It will be the world’s largest administrative and statistical exercise," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The national reference date for population data is at midnight—00:00 hours of March 1, 2027. “What is the population at a particular time. Hence, this specific time will be the reference date,” the minister explained at the press briefing after cabinet. For snow-bound areas, the reference date is 00.00 hours of October 1, 2026.

Held after a delay of over f

See Full Page