National Pension System subscribers increase by 21.67% in CY2020: PFRDA
In a year fraught with lockdowns to fight spread of covid19 pandemic and health issues for public at large, there are many positive stories. One such story emerged in the form of robust growth in number of National Pension System (NPS) subscribers. In one year ended December 31, 2020 the number of NPS subscribers rose to 3.97 crore compared to 3.26 crore a year before- a rise of 21.67%- according to data released by Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA).
NPS is a voluntary retirement benefit scheme. It works on defined benefit principle. The returns offered on contribution are market determined. The subscribers invest sum of their choice and over a period of time it accumulates into a large corpus.
Number of subscribers under NPS (Numbers in lakh)
| S.N. | Sector | Dec-19 | Mar-20 | Dec-20 | Growth % YOY | |
| 1 | Central Government | 20.69 | 21.02 | 21.53 | 4.06 | |
| 2 | State Government | 46.48 | 47.54 | 50.06 | 7.70 | |
| 3 | Corporate Sector | 9.11 | 9.74 | 10.77 | 18.22 | |
| 4 | All Citizen Sector | 10.87 | 12.52 | 14.45 | 32.93 | |
| 5 | NPS Lite | 43.35 | 43.32 | 43.09 | -0 | |
| 6 | Atal Pension Yojana | 196.37 | 211.42 | 257.80 | 31.28 | |
| Grand Total | 326.86 | 345.55 | 397.70 | 21.67 |
Atal pension scheme (APY) is offered under NPS meant for low income group subscribers. The scheme offers a minimum guaranteed pension per month after reaching age of superannuation and a minimum guaranteed corpus in case of death of the subscriber after superannuation. Subscribers to APY went up by 31.28 in CY2020 to 2.57 crore. No new registrations are allowed under NPS Lite.
The assets under management (AUM) under various NPS has also gone up substantially. The AUM stands at Rs 5.48 trillion as on December 31, 2020 – an increase of 36.83%.
Total Assets under Management under NPS (Rs. In Crore)
| S.N. | Sector | Dec-19 | Mar-20 | Dec-20 | Growth % YOY | |
| 1 | Central Government | 133573 | 138046 | 1,75,965 | 31.74 | |
| 2 | State Government | 202047 | 211023 | 2,77,149 | 37.17 | |
| 3 | Corporate Sector | 39766 | 41243 | 57,723 | 45.16 | |
| 4 | All Citizen Sector | 12224 | 12913 | 19,033 | 55.71 | |
| 5 | NPS Lite | 3753 | 3728 | 4,319 | 15.07 | |
| 6 | Atal Pension Yojana | 9788 | 10,526 | 14,724 | 50.42 | |
| Grand Total | 4,01,152 | 4,17,479 | 5,48,913 | 36.83 |
Government of India has consistently taken efforts through public sector banks and PFRDA to spread awareness about retirement planning.