Census 2027: ₹4,102 crore released; Ladakh, snow-bound areas to lead caste enumeration — Govt reveals cost, timeline

The first phase of the Census 2027, which involves houselisting and Housing Census, has been completed in 31 States/UTs, Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, said in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha earlier this week.

He also informed the upper house that a total amount of ₹4,102 crore has, so far, been released to States/UTs "for training of Census functionaries, manpower assistance, technical infrastructure, payment of honorarium to Census functionaries etc."

Nityanand Rai's reply in the Rajya Sabha on August 12 read, “First phase of the Census 2027 i.e., Houselisting and Housing Census has already been completed in 31 States/UTs. In the remaining states, the first phase of the census is scheduled to be completed by September, 2026.”

Census 2027 Phase 2: Ladakh, snow-bound areas to lead cast enumeration

Ladakh, one of the country’s two youngest Union Territories, is set to lead the way in demonstrating how caste will be enumerated for the first time in Independent India. The government said that the second phase of Census 2027 will involve "comprehensive caste enumeration."

"Comprehensive caste enumeration will be done during the Population Enumeration phase," the Centre had said earlier.

The second phase of the Census, the Population Enumeration (PE), is likely to ask questions on 40 parameters and provide an open-ended column for caste enumeration, The Hindu reported.

Sharing an update on the second phase of Census 2026, the minister said that as per the notification dated August 3, 2026 in the Gazette of India, "the second phase of the Census i.e. Population Enumeration in the UT of Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the UT of Jammu & Kashmir and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand shall be undertaken from 1st September, 2026 to 30th September, 2026 with a revisional round from 1st October, 2026 to 5th October, 2026."

"There shall also be an option for self-enumeration from 17th August, 2026 to 31st August, 2026," Rai said, adding that digital tools for the second phase of the census have been developed.

Chief principal census officer (CPCO) and director, census operations (DCO), J&K and Ladakh, Amit Sharma, was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying, “Census 2027 will take off in Ladakh in a sense that self enumeration (SE) for Ladakh as well as 16 snow-bound districts of J&K (partially) will start on August 17 till 31, like it happened previously for HLO (Houselisting and Housing Census Operation) from May 17 to 31.”

He informed that immediately after the self-enumeration, the second phase of the census will take place for Ladakh and J&K.

“After that, we will have population enumeration (PE) from September 1 to 30 for Ladakh as well as J&K. It will happen along with few snow-bound areas of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. They will proceed simultaneously and partially but technically, Ladakh will be the first state or UT in the country where this exercise will be 100% complete because Ladakh is all snow-bound,” said Sharma.

Cost of Census 2027

Rai's reply noted that, "Training of Master Trainers, Field Trainers, Enumerators, Supervisors etc. for the first phase of Census 2027 has been completed/ in progress, in accordance with the notified schedule, in coordination with the States/ UTs Government.

He said, "Till now, a total amount of ₹4102 crore have already been released to States/UTs for training of Census functionaries, manpower assistance, technical infrastructure, payment of honorarium to Census functionaries etc."

Timeline of Census 2027

Last year in December, the Union Cabinet said it approved the proposal for conducting Census of India 2027 at a cost of ₹11,718.24 crore.

It had then revealed a plan for conducting Census of India 2027, saying the exercise would be conducted in two phases:

(i) Houselisting and Housing Census (April to September, 2026): To be held in a period of 30 days in each State/ UT, as per the convenience of the State/UT Governments. There will also be an option of Self-enumeration during a 15-day period just before the 30-day period of house-to-house HLO work. This phase will gather detailed information on housing conditions, availability of amenities, and assets possessed by households, while also creating the essential frame for the subsequent phase.

(ii) Population Enumeration (PE) in February 2027: Will focus on capturing detailed demographic, socio-economic, cultural, migration, and fertility-related information of individuals across households. As decided by the CCPA, enumeration of Castes will also be done during the second phase of Census. For UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of UT of Jammu and Kashmir and States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Phase II will be conducted during September 2026.

The government claimed that to complete various tasks for successful conduct of Census 2027, approximately 18,600 technical manpower will be engaged for about 550 days at the local levels. "In another words, around 1.02 crore man-days employment would be generated," the Cabinet had said in a press release on December 12, 2025.

Census 2027 will be 16th Census in the country and eighth after independence. Census is the biggest source of primary data at village, town and ward level providing micro level data on various parameters including Housing Condition; Amenities & Assets, Demography, Religion, SC & ST, Language, Literacy & Education, Economic Activity, Migration and Fertility. The Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990 provide the legal framework for conduct of Census.