Atal Pension Yojana enrolments cross 81 million in 10th year: PFRDA

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY), the state-backed pension scheme for unorganised sector workers, has enrolled over 81 million people as it completes a decade of operations, according to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

In the last financial year alone, more than 11.7 million new subscribers joined the scheme, with women accounting for 55 per cent of enrolments.

PFRDA noted that participation from younger citizens is rising, with 46% of new subscribers aged between 18 and 25.

The scheme’s assets under management (AUM) have crossed ₹48,000 crore, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.12% since inception. It also recorded its fastest addition of 5 million subscribers in a single financial year.

PFRDA Chairperson S Ramann said the results reflected the importance of outreach by banks.

“We urge all banks, particularly private sector banks, to enhance efforts, improve persistency, and drive financial literacy to achieve pension saturation,” he said at the regulator’s annual felicitation programme in New Delhi.

Banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks and state-level committees were recognised for their contribution to expanding APY coverage. Public sector lenders such as Bank of India, State Bank of India and Indian Bank surpassed their targets, while IDBI Bank led among private institutions.

Regional rural and cooperative banks in Jharkhand, Tripura and Andhra Pradesh also posted strong results.

The regulator said the scheme has achieved coverage across all states and union territories, with smaller towns and rural districts showing particularly strong adoption.