The Union Cabinet has approved a Budget of 11,718 crore rupees for the Census 2027. Briefing the media in New Delhi today, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases – Phase I and Phase II. He said, Census 2027 will be the 16th in the series and the 8th since Independence. He said, India’s Census is considered the largest administrative and statistical exercise in the world. Caste Enumeration will be included in Census 2027. Mr Vaishnaw said, It will be the first-ever digital Census. Data will be collected using mobile applications that will be available for both Android as well as iOS versions. Mr Vaishnaw said, 30 lakh field functionaries will be involved in the exercise.
Census 2027 will cover the entire population in the country. The process involves visiting each and every household and canvassing a separate questionnaire for Houselisting and Housing Census, and Population Enumeration.
The Minister announced that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved reforms in the coal linkage policy, CoalSETU. He said India is moving towards Aatmanirbharta in the coal sector. Mr Vaishnaw said the Policy will allow allocation of coal linkages on an auction basis for long-term use for any industrial use and export by adding a separate window named CoalSETU in the Non-Regulated Sector Linkage Auction Policy of 2016, wherein any domestic buyer requiring coal can participate in the linkage auction.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has also given its approval for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for copra for the 2026 season. In order to provide remunerative prices to the cultivators, the Government had announced in the Union Budget of 2018-19, that MSP of all the mandated crops will be fixed at levels of at least 1.5 times the India weighted average cost of production.
Mr Vaishnaw said the MSP for Fair Average Quality of milling copra has been fixed at 12 thousand 27 rupees per quintal and for ball copra at 12 thousand 500 rupees per quintal for the 2026 season. He said, a higher MSP will not only ensure better remunerative returns to the coconut growers but also incentivise farmers to expand copra production to meet the growing demand for coconut products both domestically and internationally.
The MSP for the 2026 season is an increase of 445 rupees per quintal for milling copra and 400 rupees per quintal for ball copra over the previous season.
