National Intelligence Grid linked to NPR with details of 119 crore residents
BILATERAL – INDIA-ASIA
26 DECEMBER 2025
- The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), a secure platform for the police and other investigating agencies to access government and private databases in real-time, has been linked to the National Population Register (NPR), which has the family-wise details of 119 crore residents in India, government officials have said.
- The Union Home Ministry has been pushing for the enhanced use of NATGRID by the State police forces and Central law and security agencies for intelligence gathering and speedy investigation of criminal cases through indigenous and secure platforms.
- An Organised Crime Network Database is being developed on NATGRID’s IT platform to facilitate secure data-sharing between the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the State Anti-Terror Squads (ATS).
- NATGRID became operational in 2024 after being conceptualised in 2009 in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
- The data for NPR, which stores information family wise, were first collected in 2010 with the first phase of the 2011 Census and was last updated in 2015 through door-to-door enumeration.
- It was to be updated further during the 2021 Census, which has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The NPR is the first step for the creation of a countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC).
