2.87 million Indians have no faith in any religion

CHENNAI (Web Desk) - India has 2.87 million people or 0.24% of the country's population of 1.21 billion who have no faith in any religion, according to the 2011 census, which was the first to include a 'non-faith' category.

The figure includes atheists, rationalists as well as those not interested in any religion but believe in some 'unknown' force, reported Times of India.

A majority of people (1,643,640) who ticked the non-faith category live in rural areas as compared to those in urban areas (1,223,663). More males (1,463,712) than females (1,403,591) said that they did not believe in any faith.

Uttar Pradesh accounts for the most people registered as 'non-faith' (582,000) than any other state.