About 18,300 Agniveers are due to leave the Indian armed forces by December 31 as their four-year tenures end, Hindustan Times reported on Monday, October 26, citing official disclosures. Releases will begin in phases from mid-November, with the Indian Navy starting first and the Air Force and Army following, the report said.

This is the first batch recruited under the Agnipath scheme, launched in June 2022 for personnel below officer rank. Young people aged 17.5 to 21 were enrolled for a fixed four-year term including training. Only up to 25 per cent of each batch can be selected for permanent enrolment, based on performance, medical fitness and organisational needs — so roughly three in four of this batch will leave, according to the scheme's official framework cited in the report.

Each exiting Agniveer will receive a tax-free Seva Nidhi package of about Rs 11.71 lakh — yaani about Rs 11.71 lakh in total, made up of their own contribution of about Rs 5.02 lakh, an equal government contribution and interest. They also carried non-contributory life insurance cover of Rs 48 lakh during service. IANS reported on October 15 that regimental and record offices are handling discharge orders, exit medicals and Seva Nidhi processing, and that the Air Force had retained 712 of its first batch of 2,850 Agniveervayus.

For a second career, the Home Ministry has reserved 50 per cent of Constable and Rifleman vacancies in the BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP and Assam Rifles for Agniveers, with a 10 per cent quota in other government departments and defence-linked jobs also on the books, the HT report said. How smoothly this first large exit translates into jobs will be the real test of Agnipath.

Sources: Hindustan Times report, 26 October 2026, via Illustrated Daily News; IANS report on first-batch discharge preparations, 15 October 2026, via HiIndia.