ONGC Apprentice Recruitment 2026: 3,047 Posts, Apply by 20 November

ONGC Apprentice Recruitment 2026 has opened 3,047 apprentice seats for 2026-27 across 24 work centres in India, and the form runs from 29 October to 20 November 2026. The notification names no application fee and there is no written exam: ONGC will draw up a merit list from the marks in your qualifying examination. It is a 12-month apprenticeship with a monthly stipend, not a permanent ONGC job, and that one fact decides whether it is worth your time.

At a glance	ONGC Apprentice 2026-27
Organisation	Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), Maharatna public sector enterprise
Advertisement	No. ONGC/APPR/1/2026, dated 29 October 2026
Post	Apprentice (35 trades)
Total seats	3,047 (tentative)
Work centres	24 across six sectors
Application dates	29 October to 20 November 2026 (till 6 pm)
Application route	NAPS at apprenticeshipindia.gov.in for rows 1 to 25; NATS at nats.education.gov.in for rows 26 to 35
Qualification	10th pass to graduation, by trade
Age limit	18 to 24 years as on 29 November 2026
Monthly stipend	Rs 8,200 to Rs 12,300, by qualification
Training duration	12 months
Application fee	None named in the notification
Selection	Merit list on qualifying exam marks, then document verification; result 15 December 2026

The seat count has a wrinkle worth knowing

The notification prints a grand total of 3,047 seats. The six sector totals it prints add to 3,049, which is the figure several job sites have repeated. The work centre rows underneath tell a cleaner story: add up every centre and you land on exactly 3,047, the printed grand total.

The whole two-seat gap sits in one place. The Southern sector prints 269, but its four centres add to 267. Every other sector matches its centres exactly. So trust the 3,047 figure, and remember the seats are tentative. The notification says the trades and numbers may change as per ONGC's requirement.

Where the ONGC Apprentice Recruitment 2026 seats are

Sector	Seats	Largest centres
Western	1,166	Ankleshwar 392, Ahmedabad 331, Mehsana 301
Eastern	674	Nazira 466, Jorhat 135, Silchar 73
Mumbai	482	Mumbai 200, Hazira 138, Uran 69
Southern	269 printed, 267 by centres	Karaikal 98, Kakinada 76, Rajahmundry 53
Central	267	Agartala 200, Kolkata 34, Bokaro 33
Northern	191	Dehradun 138, Delhi 28, OVL Delhi 20

Western takes the most seats by far, and Nazira alone has 466, which makes it the single biggest centre in this drive. If your district qualifies for more than one centre, the size of the centre is a reasonable tiebreaker, but only after the district rule below.

Who can apply, and which portal to use

The notification lists 35 trades. Rows 1 to 25 go through NAPS, and rows 26 to 35 go through NATS, so check your trade's row before you register anywhere. A 10th pass candidate has one route here, Library Assistant. ITI holders have the widest choice, with trades like COPA, Electrician, Fitter, Welder, Instrument Mechanic, Draughtsman (Civil), Stenographer (English) and Medical Laboratory Technician (Pathology).

Fire Safety Technician takes 12th pass or ITI. Diploma holders apply for Executive (Oil and Gas) posts in five disciplines: Computer Science, Electronics and Telecommunications, Electrical, Instrumentation, Mechanical. Civil Executive goes through NATS instead. Graduates apply through NAPS for four posts: Executive Finance, Lab Chemist or Analyst, Executive HR, Secretarial Office Assistant. The NATS graduate list covers Accounts Executive, Store Keeper, graduate engineering executives and Petroleum Executive (Geology).

The district rule is the one that trips people. You can apply for a work centre only if you live in one of its eligible districts, or you took your qualifying exam from one of them. Annexure 1 of the notification lists the eligible districts for each centre, so read it before you pick a centre. A strong application to a centre you are not eligible for goes nowhere.

Three more bars apply. You must not have done an apprenticeship before, and you must not be doing one now. If you have training or job experience of one year or more after your qualification, you cannot apply as a Technician Apprentice. And you must not have completed three years after passing your qualifying exam as on 29 November 2026.

Age runs from 18 to 24 years as on the same date, which means a date of birth between 29 November 2002 and 29 November 2008. Relaxation is 5 years for SC and ST, 3 years for OBC (Non-Creamy Layer), and up to 10 years for PwBD, rising to 15 years for SC or ST PwBD and 13 years for OBC PwBD.

No exam. Your qualifying marks decide it

There is no written exam in this drive. ONGC prepares a provisional merit list from the marks in your qualifying exam, and if two candidates tie, the older one ranks higher. ONGC then shortlists candidates for document verification in a ratio it decides, and prepares a final merit list after verification.

Results go up on the ONGC apprentice portal and reach candidates by email. The notification puts the result date at 15 December 2026.

You apply for one trade at one work centre only. If you file for more than one centre or trade, ONGC allocates one centre and one trade at its own discretion, so pick deliberately instead of spraying applications. Candidates must be medically fit, and no travel allowance is paid for document verification. The notification also says ONGC may extend the last date if too few applications come in, but that is ONGC's call, not a reason to wait past 20 November.

How to apply without picking the wrong portal

The ONGC apprentice apply online route runs through NAPS or NATS, so the first step is registering on the right portal. Before that, open the notification on the ONGC apprentice portal and check Annexure 1 for the eligible districts of the centre you want. Trades in rows 1 to 25 register on NAPS at apprenticeshipindia.gov.in, and trades in rows 26 to 35 register on NATS at nats.education.gov.in.

Find ONGC on that portal, pick your sector and work centre, then one trade, and upload your documents. The form needs a photograph and signature. Submit before 20 November 2026, because the notification accepts no hard copy, post or hand delivered form.

The advertisement is dated 29 October 2026 and the window runs from that day. A couple of job sites list 30 October instead; trust the advertisement's date.

What the stipend is, and what the year is not

The notification fixes the stipend by qualification, per month. Graduate apprentices get Rs 12,300. Three year diploma holders get Rs 10,900. ITI apprentices get Rs 10,560 for a two year course and Rs 9,600 for a one year course. Apprentices with 10th or 12th get Rs 8,200.

That is the full monthly amount for the 12 months of training, and the trade you pick sets the band, so a diploma holder who applies for an ITI trade takes the ITI rate.

One condition deserves a plain reading before you apply. This is an apprenticeship, and the notification says ONGC has no obligation to offer regular employment afterwards. If you want a training year at a public sector major with a stipend, it fits. If you want a permanent job, it does not promise one.

What the notification does not say

The notification names no application fee, so do not pay anyone who asks for one in ONGC's name. It names no training start date; that follows document verification, and shortlisted candidates hear by email and on the portal. It also leaves the seat count tentative, so a centre's numbers can move before the merit list. And it sets no exam date, because there is no exam to date.

Never pay anyone who promises to get you a seat. Genuine recruitment never charges a fee to apply beyond what the notification itself names, and this notification names none.

A similar opening runs alongside this one: National Insurance Company Limited has opened 200 Graduate Apprentice seats for the same financial year, also with no exam, with applications closing on 18 November. Indian Bank has opened 1,500 apprentice seats, also through NATS, with applications closing on 25 November — that one has an online test, so it is worth comparing the two before you commit to one of them.

Sources: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, Advertisement No. ONGC/APPR/1/2026 dated 29 October 2026, read 7 November 2026 from the official PDF on ongcindia.com, as reported by JobCareerUpdates at https://jobcareerupdates.in/blog/ongc-apprentice-recruitment-2026/ and Testbook at https://testbook.com/news/ongc-apprentice-recruitment-2026-27/ on the seats, dates, stipend, eligibility conditions and marks-based selection. The sector totals were cross-checked against FreeJobAlert at https://www.freejobalert.com/articles/ongc-apprentice-recruitment-2026-3077536. Apply only through apprenticeshipindia.gov.in or nats.education.gov.in.