Agnipath intake 'to grow' from 46K annually in first 4 yrs, to 125K per yr

Scheme's objective is not about cutting costs but to make the military younger and dynamic: Senior Army officer

Doubling down on implementation of the “Agnipath Yojana” recruitment scheme, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated on Saturday that the number of volunteers being recruited under the scheme would rise from 46,000 volunteers in each of the first four years, to 90,000 volunteers in the fifth year, and to 125,000 in the sixth year.

The trajectory of those numbers will transform India’s military in about 15 years into a largely-volunteer force, with an average age of 27 years.

"In the times to come, [the soldier’s average age] will come down to 26 years from 32 years. In six-seven years, we