Atal Pension Yojana takes NPS subscription past 4 crore

Mayur.Shetty@timesgroup.com
Mumbai: The number of subscribers under the Atal Pension Yojana has crossed the 4-crore mark with the scheme adding 62 lakh subscribers in the last 12 months — an increase of 31%. Launched in 2015, the scheme targeted workers in the unorganised sector. It has seen assets under management (AUM) increase by Rs 4,926 crore to nearly Rs 15,000 crore by end-January 2021 — an increase of 49% over one year.
According to data released by the pension regulator, the subscriber base under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) crossed 4 crore in January — a growth of 22% over 3.3 crore subscribers a year ago. Total AUM of the NPS has risen 37% year on year to Rs 5.6 lakh crore.
While the subscription numbers are driven by the Atal Pension Yojana, the bulk of the contribution to AUM comes from the pension schemes of state government employees. These account for half of the scheme’s AUM at Rs 2.8 lakh crore of the total. Pension from central government employees accounts for another 30%, and the corporate sector 10%.
The Atal Pension Yojana was introduced to replace the Swavalamban Yojana, or NPS Lite, which is closed for a subscription. The NPS has come under focus as it has been able to deliver decent returns to subscribers who have the choice of a fund manager even as the Employee Provident Fund Organisation is struggling to manage yields. For instance, the central government employees’ pension scheme, which came into force from April 2008, has generated a benchmark return of 9.9% since inception.