Bhubaneswar, Dec. 13 -- The Union Cabinet has approved a budget of Rs 11,718.24 crore for conducting India's next national census in 2027, which will be held in two phases and conducted entirely through digital means for the first time. The decision was announced by Union Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw at a press conference on Friday.

Under the approved plan, the house-listing and housing census will be carried out between April and September 2026, followed by the population enumeration phase in February 2027, informed the Minister.

He also added that the exercise will involve around 30 lakh field-level personnel across the country, with data collection to be carried out using a dedicated mobile application instead...