The subscriber base of the National Pension System (NPS) increased by about 18 lakh and its corpus grew by about ₹25,000 crore in FY15, according to Hemant Contractor, Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.

As at March-end 2015, NPS had 85 lakh subscribers and the assets under management (AUM) stood at about ₹89,000 crore.

“We expect the AUM (under NPS) to grow by ₹40,000-50,000 crore this year,” said Contractor on the sidelines of an event organised by the BSE and Skoch Group.

NPS is a voluntary, defined contribution retirement savings scheme designed to enable the subscribers to make optimum decisions regarding their future through systematic savings during their working life.

Under NPS, individual savings are pooled into a pension fund which is invested by PFRDA-regulated professional fund managers into diversified portfolios, comprising government bonds, bills, corporate debentures and shares.

Atal Pension Scheme

Under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), which is focussed on all citizens in the unorganised sector, who join the NPS administered by the PFRDA, and who are not members of any statutory social security scheme, about 2.15 lakh subscriber accounts have been opened in the last 20 days or so, said the PFRDA chief.

APY subscribers will receive a fixed minimum pension at the age of 60 years, depending on their contributions, which itself would vary on the age of joining the APY.

Referring to slow growth in APY, Contractor said: “Actually, what happened was that the two insurance schemes (Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana) were launched first and APY was launched after about 10 days.

“So, the initial momentum was towards insurance.

“And insurance, all said and done, is a simple product. In comparison to that pension is a little expensive and also complicated product. You have to explain pension. Insurance, everybody knows.”

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