With over 4 crore NPS, APY subscribers, PFRDA’s AUM tops Rs 6 lakh crore mark

According to the latest official data, the total number of subscribers under NPS and Atal Pension Yojana has crossed 4.28 crore subscribers as on May 21 and the Assets under Management (AUM) of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) have grown to Rs 603,667 crores, writes Krishnanand Tripathi.

New Delhi: In a clear sign of subscribers’ confidence in the National Pension Scheme and Atal Pension Yojana, the assets under management of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) have crossed the mark of Rs 6 lakh crore, showed the latest official data. Out of this, assets worth Rs 1 lakh crore were added in the last seven months alone.

According to the PFRDA, the total number of subscribers under NPS and Atal Pension Yojana has crossed 4.28 crore subscribers as on May 21 and the Asset under Management (AUM) has grown to Rs 603,667 crores.

There are 74.10 lakh government employees and 28.37 lakh individual subscribers from the non-government sector in the NPS scheme.

According to the data shared by the PFRDA, there were 8,791 corporate enrolments with 11.53 lakh subscribers as on May 21, 2021 while there are 2.82 crore subscribers enrolled under the Atal Pension Yojana.

While the Union government launched the National Pension Scheme in 2004 for government employees, the scheme was opened for eligible subscribers in the age group of 18 to 65 in 2009.

The NPS model was later followed by almost all the state governments as both the Centre and States withdrew defined pension benefits for the government employees and encouraged enrollments in the NPS.

The Atal Pension Yojana was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 to provide a maximum pension of Rs 5,000 per month to the subscribers after attaining the age of 60 years.

“We feel immensely gratified at reaching this milestone of Rs 6 trillion AUM, and in less than seven months as we were at Rs 5 trillion in October 2020,” said Supratim Bandyopadhyay, PFRDA Chairman.

Bandyopadhyay said the achievement showed the faith subscribers had in the schemes managed by the authority.

“A growing realisation during this pandemic is the priority accorded by individuals to retirement planning, for preserving their financial well being,” he added.