NLC India Apprentice Recruitment 2026: 1,067 ITI & Graduate Apprentice Posts, Apply Online, Eligibility & Last Date OPEN

NLC India Limited’s Advertisement No. L&DC/04/2026 is out, and online applications are open until 9 November 2026, 5:00 PM. Still pending: the selection lists and joining dates (only tentative dates exist), the category-wise slot split, and a verified application-fee position.

Everything below comes from portal write-ups of NLC’s notification. FreeJobAlert’s report links to the four-page notification PDF on nlcindia.in. TN Gov Jobs and Jobs For You Tamizha give matching dates and slot counts. I have not opened the PDF myself.

Five NLC apprentice notices this year, one of them open

NLC has issued several apprenticeship notices in 2026, and search results mix them. The 575-slot Graduate and Technician Apprentice drive closed on 2 January. Reports show a 1,235-slot drive (Advt. L&DC/02/2026 and L&DC/03/2026) that closed on 11 August. A separate 163-slot drive for the Barsingsar project in Rajasthan closed on 3 August.

The live one is L&DC/04/2026. It offers 1,067 training slots: 700 for ITI Trade Apprentices and 367 for Graduate (Non-Engineering) Apprentices, at Neyveli and the Regional Office in Chennai.

That matters for you in two ways. Diploma holders and B.E./B.Tech graduates were covered in the earlier notices, and nothing in this one lists them. And stipend figures from older write-ups, such as the ₹15,028 quoted for the August drive, should not be reused for this one.

Important dates

The source says the selection and joining dates are tentative and tells candidates to watch the NLC website. The gap between the 9 November close and the 27 November joining is short. If your selection list appears on 23 November, you will have about four days to arrange documents and travel to Neyveli.

Vacancies

The 700 ITI slots are Fitter 125, Turner 45, Mechanic (Motor Vehicle) 110, Electrician 125, Wireman 110, Mechanic (Diesel) 5, Stenographer 20, Welder 120, COPA 30, and Refrigeration and AC Mechanic 10. The 367 graduate slots are B.Com 70, BBA 72, B.Sc Computer Science 93, BCA 45, B.Sc Geology 14, B.Sc Microbiology 5, B.Sc Chemistry 26, B.Pharm (Allopathy) 3, B.Pharm (Ayurveda) 3, and B.Sc Nursing 36. Both sets add up to the stated totals.

I found no category-wise split (General, OBC, SC, ST, EWS, PwBD). The reported notice says reservation will follow the Apprentices Act and applicable provisions. The PDF will show the numbers, and you should read that table before deciding your chances.

The slot counts are uneven. Welder has 120 slots and Mechanic (Diesel) has 5. Pharmacist has 3 each in Allopathy and Ayurveda. Applicant numbers are unknown, so I cannot say which trade is more competitive. In a trade with five slots, though, one percentage point can decide your place, so a trade with few slots is not automatically easier even if fewer people apply.

Eligibility, age and domicile

ITI candidates need the relevant trade certificate. Graduate candidates need a regular full-time bachelor’s degree in the listed discipline from a UGC-approved university, passed in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026. The notice does not set a passing-year limit for ITI candidates.

Three further conditions decide eligibility:

• Candidates must hail from Tamil Nadu or Puducherry. The write-up does not say what proof of domicile is asked for, so check the PDF.
• The minimum age is 18 on 31 October 2026, meaning a birth date on or before 31 October 2008. No separate maximum age is specified.
• Anyone who has already done, or is doing, NAPS/NATS apprenticeship training or the PM internship scheme is not eligible.

Stipend

ITI apprentices get ₹12,000 a month. Graduate apprentices in Commerce, Business Administration, Computer Science, Computer Application, Geology, Microbiology and Chemistry get ₹14,174. Pharmacy and Nursing apprentices get ₹16,678.

For graduates, the notified stipend includes ₹6,150 paid by the government through Direct Benefit Transfer. By my arithmetic, the NLC-paid part is then ₹8,024 for most graduate disciplines and ₹10,528 for Pharmacy and Nursing. The write-up does not state a DBT share for ITI apprentices. These are training stipends, not salary scales.

Selection: marks only, and where candidates slip

Selection depends on marks in the qualifying examination. ITI apprentices are ranked on ITI marks and graduates on their degree marks. The notification does not prescribe a written test. There is no exam syllabus, no admit card and no interview in the process described.

Percentage conversion is the part to watch. Where the university has its own CGPA or grade conversion, that is used. Otherwise the CGPA is multiplied by 10. For semester-wise or year-wise marks with no aggregate method, the average of the semester or year percentages is used. A tie at the cut-off goes to the older candidate.

Here is how that can affect you. Suppose your university prints only a CGPA, and its own formula gives 74 percent for an 8.0 CGPA. Without a university conversion rule, the default would read it as 80. With one, you are ranked at 74. Which applies depends on whether your university has an established procedure. Candidates may be asked for a university certificate confirming the equivalent percentage. If you are on a CGPA system, apply for that certificate now. Universities rarely turn these around in a day, and the tentative graduate list is only about two weeks after the closing date.

Documents and file limits

Reported limits: photograph (3.5 × 4.5 cm) and signature 50 KB JPEG each; Transfer Certificate 50 KB; Aadhaar, HSC/SSLC marksheet, and community, disability and ex-servicemen certificates 250 KB each; and the graduate or ITI certificate and marksheets as one merged file of 250 KB.

The 250 KB merged limit is where people fail. A six-semester marksheet set scanned at normal resolution runs to several megabytes. Compress it before the last day, and open the compressed file to check that marks are still legible. For 2026 graduates without a provisional certificate, the notice allows a Temporary Provisional Certificate on the institution’s letterhead, signed and sealed by the Principal. OBC-NCL candidates need a certificate valid from 1 April 2026, and candidates who skip the reservation certificate are treated as General.

How to apply

1. Open nlcindia.in, go to Careers, then Trainees & Apprentices, and find L&DC/04/2026.
2. Use the Apply Online link to the apprenticeship application portal.
3. Enter your personal and educational details and choose your ITI trade or graduate discipline.
4. Upload the photograph, signature and documents at the sizes above.
5. Review everything and submit before 5:00 PM on 9 November, and keep the confirmation.

Fee: none of the summaries I read states an application fee. An earlier NLC Barsingsar notice reportedly carried none, but I would not assume this one is the same. The PDF decides.

Job profile and what the training is

This is apprenticeship training, not a job. Completing it gives no right to temporary or permanent employment with NLC India. The 12-month training is under the Apprentices Act, 1961, with on-the-job placement at the listed locations. Its value is the NLC training certificate and practical experience. For some candidates that helps with later NLC recruitments, but the notice makes no promise about it.

Cut-off

No cut-off exists yet, and I found no published cut-off for earlier NLC apprentice rounds. Because selection runs on marks alone, the cut-off will be a percentage per trade or discipline, and it will become visible only when the selection list is published. Any figure on another site before then is a guess.

NLC India Apprentice Recruitment 2026 Important Links

FAQs

I have a diploma in mechanical engineering. Can I apply?
Not under this notice, which lists only ITI trades and non-engineering graduate disciplines. Diploma and engineering graduates were covered by the earlier 2026 NLC notices.

I graduated in 2021. Am I eligible as a graduate apprentice?
Reportedly not. The passing years allowed are 2022 to 2026, and the limit applies only to graduates.

My university gives CGPA but no percentage formula. What happens?
The reported rule multiplies CGPA by 10 if there is no established conversion. Get a university certificate stating your equivalent percentage if one is available, because you may be asked for it.

I live in Karnataka but studied in Tamil Nadu. Can I apply?
The notice says candidates must hail from Tamil Nadu or Puducherry. Whether study in Tamil Nadu alone counts is not stated in the summaries I read, so check the PDF.

Does apprenticeship at NLC lead to a job?
No. The notice says it gives no right to employment.