Thanks to government push, the assets of National Pension System (NPS) reached Rs1.73 lakh crore in FY 2016-17.
The total AUM of NPS witnessed a significant growth of over 47% from Rs1.18 lakh crore in FY 2015-16 to Rs1.73 lakh crore in FY 2016-17. Similarly, the number of subscribers increased by a whopping 9% in the corresponding period from 97.5 lakh in FY 2014-15 to 1.06 crore in March 2017.
Experts attribute this growth to government push and launch of new features in NPS.
Hemant Contractor, Chairman, PFRDA, had earlier said that the continuous efforts of the government to increase pension penetration in the country have proved to be beneficial. “Pension assets contribute to the growth and development of the economy. They provide stability to the capital markets. In addition, they enforce long term discipline and give tax incentives to investors,” he said.
Last year, PFRDA launched two new life cycle funds and eNPS, an online platform for registration. In addition, PFRDA allowed NPS subscribers to modify their investment choice and asset allocation twice a financial year, making it attractive for investors.
Speaking at an event titled, ‘Third Pension Conference on Implementation of National Pension System (NPS)’, minister of state (MoS) for finance, Santosh Gangwar, said that there is a need for creating awareness on pension at the grassroots level. He expressed satisfaction over the growth of NPS and its increasing recognition.
At the same conference, the chairman of PFRDA, said, “There is continuous need to provide old age income security through mass awareness and training programmes and increase financial literacy among the population of India, especially among the informal sector, which is largely out of the social security net.”
