Types of Household Surveys in India (National, Socio-Economic, Solar, CSR & More)

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40,000+ Digital Runners · 540 districts · 26 states · 11,000+ pincodes of reach

★ Winner, National Startup Award (Govt. of India)Trusted by 350+ brandsIndia’s Reach Engine since 2016

‘Household survey’ is one phrase for very different jobs. A government statistician measuring national consumption and a solar company checking which roofs are ready for a panel are both running household surveys — but almost nothing about their sample, questionnaire or cadence is the same. Knowing which type you're dealing with is the first decision in any project.

This page maps the types used in India, split into the two families they fall into. For how any of them is actually planned and executed, see the complete guide to household surveys in India.

The two families of household surveys

Every household survey in India is, broadly, one of two things: a national statistical survey that measures the country for policy, or an applied programme survey that serves a specific project, scheme or business decision. The first is run by government on long cycles; the second is commissioned by brands, NGOs, CSR teams and researchers, usually through a specialised field partner.

National statistical household surveys

These are the large, scientifically-sampled surveys the government uses to understand the country. You won't commission one — but their formats are the reference every other survey borrows from.

HCES — Household Consumption Expenditure Survey

Measures what households spend on and consume, the basis for poverty lines, the CPI basket and welfare policy. Run by the National Sample Office.

NFHS — National Family Health Survey

Health, nutrition, family planning and demographics at household and individual level, across every state and district. One of the most widely-cited household datasets in India.

PLFS — Periodic Labour Force Survey

Employment, unemployment and the nature of work, measured household by household on a rolling basis.

The national income & other statistical surveys

Alongside these sit income, health and multi-indicator surveys that together form India's official statistical picture — all built on structured, in-person household interviews.

Applied & programme household surveys

This is the family most organisations actually commission — surveys run to serve a specific programme, scheme or decision. These are the ones Anaxee runs.

• Socio-economic & BPL surveys — income, assets, amenities and welfare eligibility for a district, scheme or baseline. The workhorse of government and CSR targeting.
• Energy & household-solar access surveys — current lighting, roof type & area, energy spend and solar readiness, home by home. Used by solar companies and energy programmes to size and target rollouts.
• CSR, health & welfare surveys — beneficiary identification, impact assessment and relief verification for CSR and social programmes.
• Baseline & endline surveys — the before-and-after household measurement that proves a programme actually moved the needle.
• Agriculture & livelihood surveys — land, crops, irrigation, inputs and advisory needs, household by household across farming geographies.

By method: how the interview is conducted

Cutting across both families is the mode of the interview — and it changes cost, speed and data quality:

• CAPI — in-person, app-assisted interviews at the door. The gold standard for household surveys, and how rural India is best reached. More on CAPI surveys.
• CATI — telephone interviews, useful for quick follow-ups or where phone penetration is high. Compare CAPI, CATI and PAPI.
• PAPI — the old paper-and-pen method. Still used, but slow, hard to verify and error-prone next to a digital app.

How Anaxee helps

Anaxee — India's Reach Engine, a National Startup Award winner working with 350+ brands and organisations — runs the applied, programme-level household surveys end to end across 540 districts and 11,000+ pincodes: socio-economic, household-solar and energy, CSR and welfare, baseline-endline and agriculture. Sampling, trained local enumerators, app-based door-to-door capture, AI quality checks and a live dashboard. It's part of our field data-collection work — see the household survey guide, the format & questionnaire, and the survey app.

Proof on the ground — household-level fieldwork we've run

29.8 lakhpeople counselled, door to doorProject SwarakshaRead case study →1,60,000+counselled · 2,500+ assets verifiedCSR & Relief VerificationRead case study →2,42,672households · 3,667 villagesDeHaatRead case study →

Millions of household-level visits across social-impact, agri and field programmes. See all case studies →

Related reading

Household survey in India: complete guide →Household survey format & questionnaire →

What happens when you reach out to Anaxee

1. Tell us your objective — what you need to measure and decide.
2. A real person calls back — our Indore team, within one working day.
3. We scope the right survey — type, sample and mode — and pilot it before you scale.

A 130+ person team in Indore and 40,000+ Digital Runners on the ground — your enquiry reaches people who run household surveys every day, not an inbox that goes quiet.

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line

Before you design a questionnaire or pick a sample, name the type: is it a national statistical exercise, or an applied survey for a specific programme? That decision sets everything downstream — the sample, the questions, the mode and the cadence. And whichever applied type you need, Anaxee can scope it and run it across India.