Kochi Metro Apprentice Recruitment 2026–27: 70 training opportunities across four streams

Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL), a joint venture of the Government of India and the Government of Kerala, is accepting applications for 70 one-year apprenticeship training opportunities under the Apprentices Act, 1961. The official notice, KMRL/Apprenticeship/2026-27/HR-Admin/01, is dated 15 October 2026; applications close 10 November 2026. These opportunities are training engagements, not appointments to permanent metro-rail positions. Successful completion gives no automatic right to a KMRL job.

Applicants should distinguish two stages of the application process: register and complete the relevant NAPS/NATS profile online, then submit KMRL's signed prescribed paper application. The official PDF requires receipt at the company's Kaloor corporate office; the career portal's display time must not be mistaken for a separately guaranteed postal receipt hour.

At a glance

How the 70 seats are distributed

📊 See how the 70 apprenticeship seats are divided

Why the division matters: Diploma Technician accounts for 28 of 70 seats (40%), ITI trades for 20 (28.57%), Graduate Technical for 16 (22.86%) and Graduate Non-Technical for six (8.57%). There are no separate branch-wise seat figures for Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, Computer Science, commerce or individual ITI trades; candidates must not mistake a list of accepted courses for a vacancy roster.

The reservation-printing discrepancy in the original notice

The first page lists Graduate Technical: UR 6 + SC 2 + ST 1 + OBC-NCL 4 + EWS 2 = 15, yet the printed stream total is 16. Its category-total row states UR 28, SC 11, ST 5, OBC-NCL 19 and EWS 7 = 70; but the displayed four rows sum to UR 27, not 28. The 70-stream total is internally consistent, while the detailed Graduate Technical reservation row is not. We have not silently added the missing UR seat or invented a corrigendum. Applicants claiming reservation should seek KMRL's clarification through its official contact rather than relying on an assumed correction.

Monthly training stipend — compare the three qualification routes

📊 Compare notified monthly apprenticeship stipends

Separate monthly food/messing allowance: KMRL additionally specifies ₹1,200 for every selected apprentice. Therefore the advertised monthly stipend plus food allowance is ₹10,800 for ITI, ₹12,100 for Diploma and ₹13,500 for graduates, before any deductions that may apply. These are training stipend amounts, not a regular metro-rail salary or employee pay scale.

For Diploma and Graduate apprentices, the notification explicitly says a Government of India Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) component is already included in the corresponding ₹10,900 or ₹12,300 stipend. Do not add DBT again on top of the stipend.

📊 Compare the government DBT component already included in stipend

The notice does not assign a comparable government DBT figure to the ITI route in this paragraph, so ITI has been excluded from this particular comparison instead of being represented with a fabricated zero.

Qualification requirements by stream

Graduate Technical — 16 seats

A full-time four-year B.Tech/B.E. in a recognised eligible discipline: Civil Engineering, Electrical / Electrical and Electronics, Electronics / Electronics and Instrumentation, Mechanical Engineering, or Information Technology / Computer Science. The official heading states Engineering/Technical Graduate; do not treat an unrelated three-year degree as an engineering qualification.

Graduate Non-Technical — 6 seats

A full-time three-year BBA, B.Com or BCA. These six places are separate from the 16 technical graduate seats, even though both graduate groups receive the same notified monthly stipend.

Diploma Technician — 28 seats

A full-time, recognised three-year Diploma in the notified engineering disciplines, including Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Electronics and Computer Science. This is a diploma-specific stream, not a four-year engineering degree position.

ITI Trade — 20 seats

A full-time recognised ITI trade qualification in Electrician, Electronics, Welder, Fitter or Plumber, as listed in the official recruitment notice. Individual trade-wise seats are not printed; all 20 seats form the published ITI group.

Eligibility limits that matter before preparing the packet

Applicants must already have passed the relevant final examination within five years counted back from the 10 November 2026 closing date. Candidates awaiting final results cannot apply. Applicants must be at least 18 years old; the notice does not specify a universal numerical upper-age ceiling, instead referencing reservation guidelines where relevant. Medical fitness under applicable apprenticeship rules is required.

Disqualifying circumstances: Anyone who has already undergone apprenticeship training, or is currently undergoing it in any organisation, is not eligible. Qualifications acquired through part-time, correspondence, distance or online learning are explicitly excluded. The required course must be full-time and government recognised. Where the marksheet omits an overall percentage, obtain the prescribed conversion statement; where it does not identify the required branch, obtain an institution-issued specialisation certificate.

Step-by-step offline application

1. For ITI, register as a candidate/student on the official NAPS portal at apprenticeshipindia.gov.in. For Graduate/Diploma, register or update the complete applicant profile on the official NATS portal at nats.education.gov.in. The notice specifically requires the profile and document uploads to be fully updated.
2. Download KMRL's original four-page PDF, which includes the prescribed apprentice bio-data form. Select ITI, Diploma or Graduation, state your trade/discipline and write the NAPS/NATS enrollment number.
3. Include a recent photograph, legible educational marksheets and certificates, age proof and applicable Government of India format reservation/PwBD certificate. The notice also demands evidence of a complete NAPS/NATS registration profile.
4. Send/submit the completed prescribed application and attachments to General Manager (HR, Admin & Training), Kochi Metro Rail Ltd., Corporate Office, 4th Floor, JLN Stadium Metro Station, Kaloor, Kochi, Kerala – 682017 by 10 November 2026. No other application mode is accepted in the official procedure. Allow for postal transit if sending rather than hand-delivering.
5. Monitor official shortlisting and provide originals for verification if called. Shortlisted candidates must meet the prescribed medical-certificate and police-verification requirements and accept the tripartite apprenticeship contract on the relevant NATS/NAPS system.

No application fee, written examination or interview is prescribed. Incomplete or ineligible applications are rejected without individual intimation. Selection/shortlisting is not a promise of employment after the one-year training term.

Training conditions, leave and employment implications

The original notice provides 12 days of casual leave on a pro-rata basis and 15 days of medical leave during the one-year apprenticeship, plus periodic performance evaluation. Training ordinarily co-terminates on completion of one year and has no further extension. The apprenticeship contract is a training relationship: the notice explicitly denies any right to permanent employment merely because training is completed.

Where to check updates

The recruitment form and signed notice are attached to KMRL's original apprentice advertisement; the KMRL careers portal remains the source for official changes, clarifications and notices. Questions may be sent to the official notification contact: kmrl.apprentices@gmail.com. Use only KMRL and the designated Government NAPS/NATS sites for required steps.