S. Ramann chairman, PFRDA(L) and Sriram Iyer, MD & CEO, HDFC Pension Fund Management at the launch of the company’s second edition of NPS Preference Index Study 2026 in Mumbai on Monday
According to Ramann,West Bengal, which joined the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY recently, is also expected join the NPS soon.
Mumbai:Indian Pension Fund industry will soon have 100 per cent foreign direct investment(FDI) after it has been allowed in the insurance sector.
The government is yet to notify 100 per cent FDI in the pension sector. Currently the FDI limit in the pension fund industry is 74 per cent,”said S. Ramann chairman, PFRDA, the body that ensures the orderly growth and regulation of the National Pension System (NPS).
According to Ramann,West Bengal, which joined the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY recently, is also expected join the NPS soon.
However, Tamil Nadu continues to remain outside of the NPS purview.
“We are making efforts to bring more unorganised sector into NPS fold. We have now made easy for retail subscribers to open NPS account through a new digital onboarding framework, StAR NPS, allowing subscribers to open accounts and make contributions through a fully digital process.We have also launched Tatkal NPS on the BHIM Payments App, allowing eligible bank customers to open a NPS account directly through the app,” said Ramann who on Monday unveiled the second edition of NPS Preference Index Study 2026, a flagship research of HDFC Pension Fund Management,the largest pension fund in the country.
Sriram Iyer, MD & CEO, HDFC Pension Fund Management, said “As India’s retirement story is building steadily, plays a critical role in empowering Indians with a compelling product proposition that will help them build a strong corpus for their retirement needs.I believe this report, with deep insights into consumer behaviour and sentiments towards NPS, will play a critical role in further sharpening how we enable Indians build their corpus for their retirement. Seeing a rise in preference index is an indication that we are moving in the right direction, however, there is more ground to cover to help consumers know more about the benefits of retirement planning with NPS.”
One of the findings of the study is on the ideal corpus required for retirement needs. Indians have estimated their ideal retirement corpus target to Rs 1.5 crore, up from Rs 1.34 crore in 2023.
However, this amount remained below ten times average annual household income, pointing to a continued gap between what consumers believe they will need and what retirement actually costs, said the study.
The total assets under management (AUM) or corpus of the National Pension System (NPS) stands at approximately ₹15.95 lakh crore as of March 31, 2026