India, Dec. 2 -- New Delhi [India], December 2 (ANI) The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that the upcoming Census 2027 exercise will take place in two stages, beginning with house listing and housing data collection in 2026.

The first phase will be carried out over a 30-day period between April and September 2026, based on timelines decided by respective states and Union territories. The second phase, involving the population enumeration, is scheduled for February 2027.

Responding to a question from Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai reaffirmed that March 1, 2027 at 00:00 hours will serve as the reference date for enumeration across the country. Howe...