India Census 2027 Phase 1 (House Listing) Begins – April 1, 2026

Phase 1 of India's 2027 Census—the House Listing and Housing Census—commenced on April 1, 2026, and will run through September 30, 2026, across all 36 states and union territories. This phase collects information about housing conditions, household amenities, and building characteristics through 31 questions covering materials, water sources, sanitation, and asset ownership. Each state and union territory conducts its 30-day enumeration period at its own convenience within this six-month window. Households can optionally submit data online through a self-enumeration portal during a 15-day window before door-to-door enumeration begins in their area.

Census 2027 represents a historic milestone as India's first fully digital census, with enumerators using mobile applications on Android and iOS devices to collect and submit data in real-time. The reference date for most of the country is March 1, 2027; however, snow-bound and mountainous regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand use October 1, 2026 as their reference date to ensure accurate data collection.

The most significant aspect of Census 2027 is the inclusion of comprehensive caste enumeration in Phase 2 (Population Enumeration), scheduled for February 2027. This represents the first systematic caste count since 1931—nearly a century of absence from India's official census records. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs approved caste enumeration on April 30, 2025, a watershed moment for documenting India's social stratification and marginalized communities. The caste data will record individual *jati* rather than broad categories, producing the first official, nationally consistent dataset on caste distribution in nearly a century. The government has allocated ₹11,718.24 crore for Census 2027, deploying approximately 3 million field functionaries to conduct this comprehensive enumeration under the Census Act, 1948.