India Gazetted Holidays (2025–2028)

Seventeen. DoPT Office Memorandum F.No.12/2/2023-JCA dated 3 July 2025 lists 17 gazetted holidays in Annexure-I for central government offices in Delhi and New Delhi. Offices elsewhere observe 14 of those compulsorily plus three more chosen locally, so the total is still 17 — but the specific dates vary by state.

The longest break in India is Mahavir Jayanti & Good Friday (Mar 31 – Apr 5, 6 days).

India has 17 official public holidays in 2026: Republic Day (January 26, 2026), Holi (March 4, 2026), Id-ul-Fitr (March 21, 2026), Ram Navami (March 26, 2026), Mahavir Jayanti (March 31, 2026), Good Friday (April 3, 2026), Buddha Purnima (May 1, 2026), Id-ul-Zuha (Bakrid) (May 27, 2026), Muharram (June 26, 2026), Independence Day (August 15, 2026), Milad-un-Nabi (Prophet's Birthday) (August 26, 2026), Janmashtami (Vaishnava) (September 4, 2026), Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti (October 2, 2026), Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami) (October 20, 2026), Diwali (Deepavali) (November 8, 2026), Guru Nanak Jayanti (November 24, 2026), Christmas Day (December 25, 2026).

Sunday, November 8, 2026 (Kartika 17). The DoPT notification states this explicitly. Because it falls on a weekly off, no substitute weekday is granted. Some states instead close on Naraka Chaturdasi, the day before, where that is the day the state government declares as its compulsory Diwali holiday.

No. In 2026 Maha Shivratri falls on Sunday, February 15 and appears on the Annexure-II restricted list, not the gazetted Annexure-I list — so central offices in Delhi stay open on the following working day and no automatic day off applies. It was gazetted in 2025 (Feb 26), which is a common source of confusion. It also sits on the 12-item optional list, so a state committee outside Delhi may pick it as one of that state's three variable holidays.

No. Id-ul-Fitr (Sat Mar 21), Id-ul-Zuha or Bakrid (Wed May 27), Muharram (Fri Jun 26) and Milad-un-Nabi (Wed Aug 26) are printed in Annexure-I but remain subject to moon sighting. For Delhi offices any change is declared by the Ministry of Personnel after confirmation from the Delhi Police Special Branch; elsewhere the state coordination committee decides.

Six of the ten need no leave at all: Republic Day (Jan 24–26), Buddha Purnima (May 1–3), Muharram (Jun 26–28), Janmashtami (Sep 4–6), Gandhi Jayanti (Oct 2–4) and Christmas (Dec 25–27). The best value comes from bridging: two days of leave on Apr 1 and Apr 2 chain Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday into a six-day break from Mar 31 to Apr 5, and a single day each turns Ram Navami, Dussehra and Guru Nanak Jayanti into four-day breaks.

No. Independence Day is Saturday, August 15, 2026. It remains one of the three mandatory national holidays, but the DoPT rule against substitute days means no weekday off is granted. Many private employers treat Saturday as a half or full working day, so actual time off varies.

A gazetted holiday closes the office — all 17 dates on this page are compulsory days off for central government employees in Delhi. A restricted holiday is a working day: each employee may pick any two of the 34 occasions on Annexure-II (Maha Shivratri, Makar Sankranti, Raksha Bandhan, Chhath Puja, Christmas Eve and others) and apply for them as leave.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026 for central offices in Delhi. It is a mid-week holiday with no automatic long weekend, though many people take adjacent leave. Outside Delhi, Holi is one of the 12 optional holidays, so whether it is a closed day depends on what the state coordination committee selected.