While the latest Prison Statistics report released by the National Crime Records Bureau show that the occupancy rate in Indian jails fell to a decade-low of 112.7% in 2024, data shows that overcrowding remains a persisting problem in Indian prisons driven largely by a high share of undertrials. The report also highlighted other concerns such as insufficient capacity expansion and high levels of staff vacancies.

In more than half of the States/Union Territories (UTs) in India, prisons continue to operate beyond their sanctioned capacity. At the end of 2024, the country had about 1,333 jails with a capacity of 4.53 lakh inmates. However, with an inmate population of over 5.11 lakh, prisons continued to be overcrowded.