How Many Lakh Candidates Apply for RRB NTPC?

The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) NTPC examination continues to be one of India’s largest competitive recruitment drives, attracting lakhs of aspirants for both Graduate and Under Graduate level posts. With attractive salary packages, government benefits, and stable career growth, the application volume remains extremely high every cycle.

How Many Lakh Candidates Apply for RRB NTPC?

As of now, the largest officially published data belongs to the RRB NTPC 2018 recruitment cycle, which recorded a historic number of applications.

• Around 1.90 crore candidates applied for the exam.
• This remains the highest publicly verified figure for NTPC recruitment to date.

Latest Verified Participation Figures (2025 Earlier Cycle)

In 2025 (earlier cycle), the Undergraduate (10+2 level) NTPC recruitment witnessed an exceptional response:

• Total undergraduate posts announced were 3,445
• Total candidates who applied were around 63,26,818 i.e. 63.26 lakh

This reflects the massive demand, even for 12th-pass level positions. Such candidate volume highlights the increasing competition and popularity of NTPC recruitment.

In the detailed RRB NTPC notification 2019, the board clearly stated that, For every 1 vacancy, 20 candidates move forward to the next stage (CBT-2 / Skill Tests).

This rule significantly increases the screening pressure during the early CBTs, especially when lakhs apply for only a few thousand posts.

The total number of applicants for RRB NTPC 2025-26 will again rise sharply and may cross previous records.

Since both Graduate & Undergraduate posts are open, the digits are expected to be very high once again.

Why Are Numbers Increasing Every Year?

Some major reasons include:

• Central Government job security
• Fixed pay scale + allowances
• Promotions and departmental growth
• Pan-India postings
• No interview pressure
• Relaxed eligibility (12th/Graduation)
• Typing/Skill tests instead of personality interviews

When Will 2025-26 Application Numbers Be Published?

RRB typically releases final application statistics after:

• Scrutiny
• Fee verification
• Rejected form evaluation.

This usually happens after application windows close, followed by an official press note or RTI disclosures. Until then, no unofficial platform can declare accurate digits.