The Indian Army is preparing for a major expansion of its annual Agniveer recruitment intake, potentially raising the number of new soldiers to more than 100,000 a year, a significant increase from the current 45,000–50,000.
The move aims to counter a widening personnel shortfall that has grown to nearly 180,000 soldiers, according to media reports.
How did the army personnel deficit accumulate?
The deficit, one media report ited officials as saying, primarily accumulated during the COVID-19 years (2020–21), when all recruitment was halted even as 60,000–65,000 personnel continued to retire annually.
This gap emerged before the government introduced the Agnipath scheme in June 2022, which replaced traditional long-term enlistment with four-year contractual service for Agniveers.
What were the Agnipath recruitment plans?
When launched on June 14, 2022, the Agnipath scheme sanctioned 46,000 vacancies across the three services, including 40,000 for the Army.
The long-term plan envisioned gradually increasing Army recruitment over four years, with an eventual ceiling of 175,000 Agniveers in service.
The Navy and Air Force were also expected to scale their annual intake to nearly 28,700 combined.
How is the army preparing to make up the shortfall?
However, even after Agniveer induction began in 2022, retirements continued at the same pace, adding an estimated 20,000–25,000 to the annual shortfall.
With the first batch of Agniveers scheduled to complete their four-year tenure and exit from December 2026, the Army is preparing to sharply raise annual vacancies to stabilise its personnel strength.
How would the Agnipath scheme be tweaked?
The enhanced intake will be aligned with the training capacity of regimental centres to safeguard operational and training standards. The Army has already stated it will induct 175,000 Agniveers by end-2025, and future recruitment cycles will be calibrated to close existing gaps.
Over the next three to five years, with around 60,000 pre-2020 troops retiring annually and the impending exit of Agniveer batches, the expanded recruitment plan is expected to gradually restore balance to the Army’s manpower levels.