Census 2027, March 30 -- The world's largest census will be conducted in two phases starting April 1, 2026, with the exercise set to go digital for the first time, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan announced on Monday.

The upcoming Census will also offer a self-enumeration option. According to the schedule, self-enumeration will take place from April 1 to April 15, followed by the House Listing and Housing Census phase from April 16 to May 15 this year.

The decennial census, originally scheduled for 2021, was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Census schedule has been planned in phases across states and Union Territories, with separate timelines for self-enumeration and the houselisting a...