Delhi (NCT) Public Holidays 2026

Understanding Delhi (NCT)'s Holiday Calendar in 2026

The Lieutenant Governor declares 18 holidays for all offices under the Government of NCT of Delhi in 2026, by GAD notification No. F.53/812/GAD/CN/2025/4540-4576 dated 4 December 2025, published in Delhi Gazette Part IV Extraordinary. The same notification carries a 33-day restricted list from which each employee may avail any two.

A companion notification of the same date declares 15 of those days under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. Ram Navami on 26 March, Janmashtami on 4 September and Maharishi Valmiki's Birthday on 26 October close Delhi government offices but are not on the Negotiable Instruments Act list, so banks and instrument maturities follow a shorter calendar than offices.

Delhi's structure is unusually lopsided: a short gazetted list and one of the longest restricted lists in the country, at 33 days against a quota of 2. That reflects a workforce drawn from across North India and beyond: Pongal, Bahag Bihu, Onam, Rath Yatra, Cheti Chand and Chhath all appear as options rather than closures. For payroll, establishments fall under the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954.

National Holidays in Delhi (NCT)

Republic Day on Monday 26 January, Independence Day on Saturday 15 August and Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday on Friday 2 October are mandatory. In Delhi they carry operational weight beyond the closure itself. The Kartavya Path parade and the Red Fort ceremony bring road restrictions in central Delhi that begin days in advance.

Independence Day falls on a Saturday in 2026, so five-day-week offices lose it to the weekend. Only three of the 18 declared days fall on a weekend (Id-ul-Fitr on Saturday 21 March, Independence Day, and Diwali on Sunday 8 November), leaving 15 weekday closures, which is a good year by Delhi standards.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's Birthday on 14 April is not in the GNCTD notification, on either the gazetted or the restricted schedule. The only 14 April entry is Vaisakhi/Meshadi, on the restricted list. Central government offices in Delhi close that day under a separate declaration issued each year by the Government of India, which is a different instrument and does not extend to GNCTD offices or private establishments. If your Delhi office intends to close, check whether a separate state order has been issued rather than assuming the day is gazetted.

Delhi (NCT)-Specific Holidays

Maharishi Valmiki's Birthday on Monday 26 October is Delhi's most distinctly local closure. It is a full holiday for GNCTD offices and an ordinary working day in most other states, which catches multi-state employers out every year. It is also one of the three days that is not a Negotiable Instruments Act holiday.

Holi is declared on Wednesday 4 March. Holika Dahan and Dolyatra are both on the restricted list for the previous day, Tuesday 3 March, so an employee wanting both days has to spend a restricted day on the first.

Dussehra is declared on Tuesday 20 October, and the restricted list separately offers Saptami on Sunday 18 October, Mahashtami on Monday 19 October and Mahanavmi on 20 October. Mahanavmi shares its date with the gazetted Dussehra, so an employee who selects it gains nothing; the practically useful option in that cluster is Monday 19 October.

Diwali falls on Sunday 8 November. Naraka Chaturdasi is on the restricted list for the same Sunday, and Govardhan Puja on Monday 9 November. For an office already closed on Sundays, Diwali yields no day off at all in 2026 and the Monday is the only way to extend it, which will concentrate restricted-holiday demand on 9 November.

Restricted Holidays in Delhi (NCT)

The restricted list runs to 33 days and each employee may avail any two. That is the longest optional list of any state calendar for 2026, and it is the mechanism by which Delhi accommodates a workforce that observes Pongal, Cheti Chand, Bahag Bihu, Onam, Rath Yatra, Karva Chouth and Chhath without declaring any of them.

Twelve of the 33 are worth nothing in 2026. Nine fall on a weekend: Hazarat Ali's Birthday on 3 January, Guru Ravi Das's Birthday on 1 February, Maha Shivratri on 15 February, Easter Sunday on 5 April, Tagore's birthday on 9 May, Parsi New Year on 15 August, Dussehra Saptami on 18 October, Naraka Chaturdasi on 8 November and Chhath Puja on 15 November. Three more fall on a working day already closed as a gazetted holiday: Onam on 26 August shares its date with Milad-un-Nabi, Dussehra Mahanavmi with Dussehra on 20 October, and Guru Teg Bahadur's Martyrdom Day with Guru Nanak's Birthday on 24 November. That leaves 21 with practical value against a two-day quota.

Chhath Puja needs handling beyond the list. Delhi has a very large Purvanchali workforce and demand around Chhath is concentrated and non-negotiable for those who observe it, with travel to Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh on either side. It falls on Sunday 15 November in 2026, which reduces the formal leave requirement but not the travel window, and a two-day restricted quota does not cover it.

Hazarat Ali's Birthday appears twice on the 2026 list, on 3 January and 23 December. Both are separate entries against the same two-day quota.

HR & Payroll Guidance for Delhi (NCT), 2026

The gap between the office list and the banking list is the practical trap. Ram Navami, Janmashtami and Valmiki Jayanti close GNCTD offices but are not notified under the Negotiable Instruments Act, so banks work while government counterparties do not. Anything involving statutory filings with a state department, versus anything involving a payment clearing, resolves to different dates.

14 April is the single most likely error in a Delhi calendar. It is a closed holiday for central government offices under a separate Government of India declaration and appears in most published Delhi holiday lists, but it is not in the GNCTD notification. An employer copying a central list into a Delhi establishment calendar will declare a day the state has not.

A 33-day restricted list against a two-day quota is a policy problem, not a data problem. Employees will not get the days they expect, and the ones that matter most to particular communities (Chhath, Onam, Pongal, Karva Chouth) are scattered across the year. Decide in advance whether the quota is enforced strictly, and publish that alongside the list rather than after the first rejection.

The four Islamic dates are provisional. Id-ul-Fitr on 21 March, Jamat-ul-Vida on 20 March, Id-ul-Zuha on 27 May, Muharram on 26 June and Milad-un-Nabi on 26 August each depend on moon sighting and can shift by a day. Do not lock them into an annual calendar without a review step close to the date.

Engage HRMS maintains the gazetted and restricted lists separately, enforces the two-day restricted cap per employee, and lets a provisional date be moved once the government confirms it, without reissuing the whole year's calendar.