Census of India 2027: Homeowners to Report Wall, Floor, and Roof Materials

The Census of India 2027, conducted in two phases for the first time since 2011, will begin its first phase on 1 April 2026 and continue until 30 September 2026. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner have issued instructions for census officials to collect detailed information about households within their assigned local areas.

What Will Be Recorded in the First Phase
During the first phase, officials will conduct a house listing and housing census, collecting information on 33 key parameters. This includes the materials used in walls, roofs, and floors of houses; availability of internet connections; cooking fuel types such as LPG, PNG, firewood, or coal; house usage (residential or mixed-use); and the condition of the dwelling (good, livable, or dilapidated).

Household and Family Details
Data will also include the number of families and members per household, name and gender of the head of the household, caste (Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, or other), ownership status of the house, number of rooms, and married couples residing in the home.

Water, Sanitation, and Utilities
Census officials will record the primary source of drinking water—government supply, borewell, or well—along with its adequacy. Information will also be collected on electricity supply, type of toilet (Indian or Western), wastewater drainage arrangements, availability of bathrooms, and cooking fuels used.

Household Assets and Connectivity
Data on household items such as radio, television, computers, laptops, landline phones, mobile phones, and smartphones will also be recorded. Information on vehicles including cars, jeeps, vans, bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, and mopeds will be collected. Additionally, the type of staple grains consumed by the family and a mobile number for census-related communication will be recorded.

Scale and Digital Execution
To conduct the door-to-door census, 34 lakh surveyors and supervisors will be deployed along with 1.3 lakh census officers. The census will also record caste details and will be fully digital, using a mobile application for data collection.

Two-Phase Census Approach
The census will be conducted in two phases: the first phase (HLO) involves house listing and enumeration, and the second phase (PE) will gather demographic, socio-economic, cultural, and other personal details of all residents in each household.