India’s Public Holidays in 2017

January 30, 2017 Posted by India Briefing Reading Time: 4 minutes

The government has announced its holiday schedule for 2017. The schedule is divided across three classifications: gazetted, restricted, as well as state and union territory. Gazetted holidays are mandatory, restricted holidays are optional, and state and union territory holidays are local.

Many foreign human resource managers struggle with India’s holiday schedule. That is no surprise: the federal and state governments have acknowledged a number of holidays every month to accommodate over 1.2 billion people spread over 37 diverse states and union territories.

Although there are many ways to manage this schedule, many businesses in India close offices on the gazetted holidays and grant employees several optional holidays that they may select to observe a non-gazetted holiday of their choosing. Other businesses simply mirror the holiday schedule observed by the management of their office building.

Gazetted holidays for 2017

January 26: Republic Day
February 24: Maha Shivaratri
March 13: Holi
April 4: Ram Navami
April 9: Mahavir Jayanti
April 14: Good Friday
May 10: Buddha Purmima
June 26: Idu’l Fitr
August 15: Independence Day
September 2: Id-ul-Zuha
September 30: Dussehra
October 1: Muharram
October 2: Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday
October 19: Diwali
November 4: Guru Nanak’s Birthday
December 2: Id-e-Milad
December 25: Christmas Day

Please note that a number of these holidays occur on the weekend, including: Mahavir Jayanti, Id-ul-Zuha, Dussehra, Muharram, Guru Nanak’s Birthday, and Id-e-Milad.

Non-gazzetted holidays for 2017

January 1: New Year’s Day
January 5: Guru Govind Singh’s Birthday
January 14: Makar Sakranti
January 14: Pongal
February 1: Basant Panchami/Sri Panchami
February 10: Guru Ravidas’ Birthday
February 19: Shivaji Jayanti
February 21: Swami Dayananda Saraswati Jayanti
March 12: Holika Dahan/Dolyatra
March 28: Chaitra Sukladi/Gudi Padava/Ugadi/Cheti Chand
April 11: Hazarat Ali’s Birthday
April 13: Vaisakhi/Vishu
April 15: Vaisakhadi/Bahag Bihu
April 16: Easter Sunday
April 17: Guru Rabindranath
June 23: Jamat-Ul-Vida
June 25: Rath Yatra
August 7: Raksha Bandhan
August 17: Parsi New Year/Nauraj
August 25: Vinayaka Chaturthi/Ganesh Chaturthi
September 4: Onam
September 27: Maha Saptami
September 28: Maha Ashtami
September 29: Maha Navmi
October 5: Maharishi Valmiki’s Birthday
October 8: Karaka Chaturthi
October 18: Deepavali
October 18: Naraka Chaturdasi
October 20: Govardhan Puja
October 21: Bhai Duj
October 26: Pratihar Sasthi
November 24: Guru Teg Bahadur’s Martyrdom Day
December 24: Christmas Eve

Please note that a number of these holidays occur on the weekend, including: New Year’s Day, Makar Sakranti, Pongal, Basant Panchami/Sri Panchami, Shivaji Jayanti, Holika Dahan/Dolyatra, Vaisakhadi/Bahag Bihu, Easter Sunday, Rath Yatra, Karaka Chaturthi, Bhai duj, and Christmas Eve.

State and union territory holidays

The list of state and union territory holidays is quite large. Please follow the hyperlink to review local holidays that apply to your place of business.

In addition to office closures, governments in state and union territories often observe “dry days” or days when the sale of alcohol is not permitted, on gazetted and state and union territory holidays. Dry days also routinely occur on local election dates.

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