The census, which was originally scheduled for 2021 but postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will be carried out in two phases. Phase-I, known as the House Listing and Housing Census, will focus on physical and socio-economic details of households, while Phase-II, beginning in February 2027, will enumerate the population.
According to the notification, the head of each household will be required to provide information related to the structure and ownership of the house, access to drinking water, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, number of rooms, and assets such as vehicles. Details about family members, including household size and type, will also be recorded.
The MHA said the 2027 Census will be entirely digital for the first time. Nearly 30 lakh enumerators and supervisors will collect data using mobile applications compatible with Android and iOS platforms. The government has also introduced a self-enumeration option, allowing citizens to fill in their details online up to 15 days before the start of house listing in their area.
Each state and Union Territory will be required to complete Phase-I within a 30-day window, ensuring uniformity and timely data collection across the country.
A key feature of the upcoming census is geo-tagging of every residential structure, effectively turning each home into a digital point on a national map. Officials said this will significantly improve disaster response by enabling authorities to quickly assess population density and housing conditions during floods, earthquakes, or other emergencies.
The geo-spatial data will also support delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies, urban planning, and more accurate tracking of urbanisation and migration trends. In addition, linking geo-tagged data with Aadhaar is expected to help remove duplicate entries from electoral rolls, though officials stressed that safeguards will be in place.
The government has also confirmed that caste data will be collected digitally, marking the first comprehensive caste enumeration since 1931. The decision was approved earlier this year by the Cabinet Committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India’s last census in 2011 recorded a population of approximately 1.21 billion. Officials say the updated data will be critical for policy planning, welfare delivery, and infrastructure development over the next decade.
