Supratim Bandyopadhyay, chairperson, PFRDA
Supratim Bandyopadhyay, chairperson, PFRDA, said, the total assets under NPS has touched Rs 35 trillion and currently almost has an AUM of Rs 7,40 trillion with 5.33 subscribers across central and state government corporates, and retail subscribers
Mumbai:
Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, after deciding to go back to the old pension system for payment of pension to their state government employees, have exited the National Pension System (NPS) as implemented by the pension fund regulator PFRDA((Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority),
NPS was originally designed to unburden the central government and state governments of their huge future pension liabilities
The PFRDA sources have confirmed that both the governments have stopped contributing any funds from their side to the NPS since Apr 1.
“Yes, both the governments have stopped any payment. Now,whatever the funds they had contributed earlier will be taken care by us,’’ said a senior PFRDA official adding that there are no legal ways the PFRDA can return the funds whatever have been contributed by these two states.
All other states except Tamil Nadu and West Bengal had participated in the NPS and the last state which had joined the NPS was Tripura.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to issue a directive to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to refund the money deposited towards the National Pension System (NPS) since November 2004 by the state government along with accruals.
Baghel made this demand to the prime minister days after the PFRDA rejected the state government’s request to withdraw ₹ 17,240 crore accrued under the NPS.
In his letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, Baghel said his government has decided to reinstate the old pension scheme (OPS) in the interest of government officials and employees, and for its implementation the request is being made.
As per the data available with the state government, ₹ 11,850 crore (employee and employer contribution) has been transferred by it to the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) during the period from November 1, 2004 to March 31, 2022. The current market value of this amount is about ₹ 17,240 crore, he said.
Speaking to the media Supratim Bandyopadhyay, chairperson, PFRDA, said, the total assets under NPS has touched Rs 35 trillion and currently almost has an AUM of Rs 7,40 trillion with 5.33 subscribers across central and state government corporates, and retail subscribers.
Bandyopadhyay said equity schemes under NPA have given a return of 11.92 per cent while the corporate bonds have provided a reurn of 9.21 per cent.
Three new players, Tata Asset Management, Axis Bank and Max Financial have joined as new pension fund managers recently and will start their operations shortly.
Bandyopadhyay hinted that the PFRDA is working out plans with the help of E&Y to launch a guaranteed pension scheme, which can be linked to government securities and can also be made floating. It may be launched by September.
The total number of subscribers for NPS and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) stood at 5.33 crore as of June 4, Bandyopadhyay said.
As of June 4, 2022, the Asset Under Management (AUM) under NPS and APY was at Rs 7,39,393 crore.
The number of subscribers in the category of central government employees of NPS was 22.98 lakh and AUM at Rs 21,876 crore. Total subscribers in state government employee category of NPS was 56.46 lakh and AUM at Rs 3,69,837 crore in the period.
The subscriber base in corporate and pension categories was 14.79 lakh and 23.61 lakh, respectively.
”Of late, (subscribers in) corporate and private segments are increasing at a much larger pace than in the government sector,” Bandyopadhyay said.
The Atal Pension Yojana subscriber base increased to 3.739 crore as of June 4.