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The Central government on Tuesday responded to a written question in Lok Sabha in connection with the upcoming caste census, and reiterated that it will be conducted in two phases by March 1, 2027.

“The Government of India has notified its intent to conduct the Census in the Gazette on 16th June, 2025. The Census will be conducted in two phases. In phase one, i.e. housing listing and housing Census, the housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household will be collected," Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said in a written reply.

“Subsequently, in the second phase, i.e. Population Enumeration, the demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected. In the Census, Caste enumeration will also be done."

The government outlined that the reference date shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of March, 2027 (For UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date shall be 00:00 hours of the 1st day of October, 2026).
 

“The estimated financial outlay for conducting the Census is under finalisation. No decision has been taken to update the National Population Register. The intent to conduct the Census has been notified. The period of conducting the housing listing and housing Census will be notified in due course," Rai added.

Earlier, the government on June 4 said that India’s next census will be held across India by March 1, 2027. However, he exercise will be held by October 2026 in snow-bound states and union territories, such as Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

The final data is expected to be published by around 2030, after the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. “It has been decided to conduct the Population Census-2027 in two phases along with the enumeration of castes. The reference date for the Population Census – 2027 will be 00:00 hours of the first day of March, 2027," the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in an official statement at the time.
On July 22, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Lok Sabha that preparations for Census 2027 have begun, and a two-day conference of Directors of Census Operations was held earlier this month to discuss the roadmap of this exercise.
The two-day conference was held on July 3-4 in New Delhi and was attended by Directors of Census Operations, senior officials from various state Directorates of Census Operations, and officers from the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India.