Atal Pension Yojana
The number of subscribers of the government's flagship social security scheme 'Atal Pension Yojana' (APY) is expected to cross 10 crore in the current financial year. Pension fund regulator PFRDA Chairman S Raman gave this information on Wednesday. Raman said during the 'APY Annual Felicitation Ceremony' here that considering the annual growth rate of 18 percent in the scheme, the number of subscribers can exceed 10 crore in 2026-27.
The number of APY shareholders increased to 8.96 crore by the end of financial year 2025-26, which was 7.61 crore a year ago. During this period, a record 1.35 crore new customers joined this pension scheme.
He said that considering the annual growth rate of 18 percent, its number of customers is likely to cross 10 crore by the end of the financial year 2026-27. This number has increased to more than 9.04 crore by April 30, 2026. Raman said there has been a significant increase in enrollment in the age group of 18-25 years, which reflects the growing awareness among the youth about long-term financial security.
He also stressed the need to increase pension awareness and customer participation across the country. Atal Pension Yojana is administered by PFRDA under the overall administrative structure of the National Pension System (NPS).
APY was launched in 2015 with the aim of increasing social security coverage for all citizens, including workers in the unorganized sector. Under this scheme, bank account holders in the age group of 18 to 40 years, who are not income tax payers, can participate. Under this scheme, a minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 is guaranteed after the age of 60 years, depending on the contribution of the customers.
According to PFRDA, the number of National Pension System (NPS) subscribers is estimated to grow at a rate of more than 22 percent in 2026-27. By the end of the financial year 2025-26, the total subscribers of NPS were 2.17 crore and their total assets stood at Rs 15.95 lakh crore.
