Pant missed India's home series against the West Indies last month as he recovered from a foot fracture.
Fast bowler Akash Deep was also recalled, replacing Prasidh Krishna from the team that played against the West Indies.
India are in a period of transition under 26-year-old captain Shubman Gill, following the retirements of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Gill led India to a 2-0 home win over the West Indies and a hard-fought 2-2 draw in their five-Test series in England earlier this year, his first outing as captain.
The two-Test series against South Africa begins November 14 in Kolkata, with the second match to be played in Guwahati -- the city's first-ever Test.
India are currently third in the World Test Championship table, with South Africa two spots below in fifth.
The Proteas drew their last Test series 1-1 against Pakistan.
Squad: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep
