India, Dec. 12 -- The Union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday approved Rs.11,718 crore for conducting Census 2027, which will be critical for planning, policy formulation and effective public administration.

"India's Census is considered the largest administrative and statistics exercise in the world. It is a very important exercise and the biggest source of primary data for various parameters. The last Census was conducted in 2011 and Census 2021 could not be done due to Covid-19. Today, the cabinet led by PM Modi has approved a budget of Rs.11,718 crore for Census-2027," Union minister for IT, railways and I&B Ashwini Vaishnaw said after the cabinet meeting.

The minister said there will be two phases of Censu...