Bengaluru, December 18, 2025 – National Pension System (NPS) is a potent policy measure aimed at strengthening long-term cross-sectoral financial security by promoting disciplined retirement savings, diversified investment, and financial resilience. A special press meet was organised by PFRDA under the aegis of Chairperson Shri Sivasubramanian Ramann in Bengaluru earlier today with the objective of further amplifying awareness about NPS in the larger Public Interest.
Notably, the NPS subscriber base in India has grown significantly, surpassing 9 crore (90 million) by October 2025 while its combined Assets Under Management (AUM) along with Atal Pension Yojana (APY) crossed ₹16 lakh crore. The well-rounded subscriber base includes government (central & state), corporate, and all-citizens (including those in the informal sector). The subscriber base further received a momentous impetus in terms of growth owing to initiatives like financial inclusion for gig/platform workers and farmers.
NPS encourages regular contributions throughout a person’s working life much like a systematic investment plan (SIP) that builds a sizeable retirement corpus through compounding over decades. These disciplined savings besides serving as a tax saving instrument while being employed help beneficiaries prepare for a stable post-retirement financial planning without being dependent on sporadic investments, mortgaging gold or uncertain post-retirement income.
Addressing media personnel, Shri Sivasubramanian Ramann, Chairperson PFRDA said, “PFRDA is committed to the vision of a pensioned society, ensuring that pension coverage reaches all sections of the private sector. With a target to bring 25 crore private-sector citizens under the pension net over the next five years, PFRDA is focusing on key segments such as platform workers, agripreneurs and MSMEs.Over the last six months, PFRDA has undertaken several measures to enhance subscriber flexibility, organised awareness programmes across 30 Tier-II and Tier-III cities, and plans to expand outreach to 100 cities by March 2026. These efforts are complemented by strengthening distribution channels, including the introduction of the Multiple Scheme Framework (MSF), which enables pension funds to design segment-specific schemes and permits up to 100% equity investment under MSF.NPS has consistently delivered competitive returns since inception, with even the composite scheme carrying only 15% equity exposure generating returns of over 9%, reinforcing NPS as a robust and reliable retirement solution.
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has notified the PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the National Pension System) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 to enhance flexibility, simplify exit procedures, and provide greater choice to NPS subscribers.
Key amendments include increase in entry and exit age up to 85 years, allowing non-government NPS subscribers to withdraw up to 80% of their retirement corpus as lump sum at exit, and reduction in the mandatory annuity purchase requirement to a minimum of 20% of the accumulated pension wealth in specified cases. The revised regulations also allow normal exit after completion of 15 years of subscription or attainment of 60 years of age, whichever is earlier for both common scheme and MSF, removal of lock-in period for All Citizen subscribers, simplified continuation and exit processes, and permission to avail financial assistance by marking lien on NPS contributions, within prescribed limits.
The revised regulations aim to make NPS more inclusive, subscriber-friendly, and aligned with the evolving retirement needs of citizens.Bottom of Form.
