The decadal growth rate of six main communities is at lowest it has ever been in India's history for all religions. The census data was released by Registrar General and Census Commissioner yesterday for distribution of the total population by six major religious communities – Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain.<br/><br/>The data on Population by Religious Communities of Census 2011 show that between 2001 and 2011, Hindu population grew by 16.76 per cent compared to 19.92 per cent in last decade, while that of Muslims by latest data is 24.6 per cent compared to 29.5 per cent.<br/>India now has 96.63 crore Hindus, who make up 79.8 per cent of its population, and 17.22 crore Muslims, who make up 14.23 per cent. Among the other minorities, Christians make up 2.3 per cent of the population and Sikhs 2.16 per cent.<br/><br/>However, the proportion of Hindu population has declined by 0.7 per cent and Muslim population increased by 0.8 per cent in the country during 2001-2011. The overall growth rate of population during the decade was 17. 7 per cent.