India has 85 crore registered voters: CEC

India has about 85 crore registered voters, with 1.8 crore new electors added to the electoral rolls in the recent past, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi said on Monday.

"I am very happy to inform the gathering that 1.8 crore or 18 million new voters have been registered in our electoral rolls as on January 1 and ahead of the National Voters' Day (NVD). With this addition, the total number of voters in the country has touched about 85 crore or 850 million mark which is equal to population of some continents on stand alone basis or in combination," the CEC said.

President Pranab Mukherjee was the chief guest at the function. Zaidi said the poll body has made good progress in adding new voters, in the age group of 18-19 years. In India, a citizen can vote after attaining the age of 18 years. "Enrollment of 18-19 year age group has always been a matter of concern. The Commission is pleased to inform that 50% of the total voters of this age group have now been enrolled which is a remarkable progress compared with earlier 10 to 15 per cent a few years ago," he said.