Army starts recruitment drive for 25,000 Agniveer posts; plans to increase their intake

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army has started a major recruitment drive for Agniveer roles this year, offering over 25,000 positions across the country. The application process is now open following the release of an official notification for 2026-27. The last date to apply is April 1.

When the Agnipath scheme was launched on June 14, 2022 — recruitment was for a period of four years — a total of 46,000 vacancies were opened for recruitment that year to the Army, Navy and Indian Air Force. Out of this, 40,000 vacancies were for the Army and the rest for the Navy and the IAF. With the first batch completing their four-year term by late 2026, and more retirements on the way, the Army is accelerating hiring to stabilise manpower. In a bid to reduce a shortfall of nearly 1.8 lakh soldiers, the Army is looking to increase vacancies for recruitment of Agniveers to over 1 lakh every year, from the existing 46,000.

For 2026 recruitment, selected candidates will receive a specially structured monthly salary starting at Rs 30,000 in the first month. This amount will increase by Rs 5,000 each subsequent year, reaching Rs 40,000 by the fourth year. After contributing 30% to the Agniveer Corpus Fund, the in-hand salary will range from Rs 21,000 in the first year to Rs 28,000 in the fourth year. The govt will match this contribution annually.

The 25,000 posts are across several categories such as general duty (GD), technical, clerk/storekeeper technical, tradesman, soldier pharma, soldier technical nursing assistant and women mlitary police. The registration process that started on Feb 13 will continue till April 1. The selection procedure will be carried out in three phases— a computer-based test (CBT), a recruitment rally, and finally, document verification.