The Agniveer passing out parade at INS Chilka on Friday will mark the end of training for over 3,300 trainees, the largest batch ever to pass out from the Indian Navy's premier ab-initio training establishment in Odisha.

Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, Chief of the Naval Staff, will be the Chief Guest and Reviewing Officer, according to the Ministry of Defence.

This is the ninth batch of Agniveers to pass out of the Navy's sailor training school. Naviks of the Indian Coast Guard, who train alongside them, will march in the same parade.

Largest batch yet completes 16 weeks of training

Every trainee marching on Friday will have completed 16 weeks of ab-initio training. The previous batch, which passed out on June 12, numbered 3,011 trainees, including 2,746 Navy Agniveers and 265 Coast Guard Naviks, according to figures released at the time. Friday's batch is larger by around 300.

The course covers academics, physical conditioning, swimming, parade drill, outdoor activities and a camp. Equal weight goes to character building, leadership, discipline and teamwork, the ministry said, along with the Navy's core values of Duty, Honour and Courage.

Agniveer passing out parade to be reviewed by Navy Chief

Families of the trainees will watch from the stands. Naval veterans and other distinguished guests will also attend.

Admiral Swaminathan took charge as the 27th Chief of the Naval Staff on May 31, 2026. In September, he reviewed the passing out parade at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai, where 342 Officer Cadets were commissioned.

The Agniveer passing out parade will be streamed live on the Indian Navy's official social media platforms.

Valedictory Function to honour top trainees and instructors

Vice Admiral Sameer Saxena, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, will preside over the Valedictory Function. Awards will go to meritorious trainees, the champion division and the best instructor.

New edition of Ankur to be unveiled

The function will also see the release of Ankur, the bilingual trainees' magazine of INS Chilka.

INS Chilka has trained every Navy Agniveer batch since 2023

The first batch of Navy Agniveers passed out of INS Chilka in March 2023. It included 273 women, as the Navy became the first service to recruit women sailors under the Agnipath scheme. Batch sizes have grown since. The January 2026 parade had around 2,700 trainees.

The ninth batch passes out days after the Union Cabinet approved a two-year Second Tour of Duty for Agniveers on November 4. The 75 percent of Agniveers who were to leave after four years will now be offered two more years in uniform, and all willing Agniveers who meet the selection criteria can then be enrolled as regular personnel.