Nageswaran said Indian household savings have shown an inclination towards market investments, while highlighting the role of pension savings as a source of long-term capital for the economy.
The NPS corpus currently stands at around ₹18 lakh crore, of which 28% is invested in equity, 21% in bonds and more than 40% in government securities, according to the CEA.
He also said the design of the pension system matters. The CEA noted that Indian savers have moved towards market investments, but long-term planning remains an area that needs greater focus.
While short-term trading can be exciting, Indian households should recognise the importance of saving for the long term in long-term assets, Nageswaran said. He linked this to old-age planning as well as the broader objective of Viksit Bharat.
He said this also calls for trust in financial institutions and products that do not require savers to become financial experts.
Department of Financial Services Secretary Sanjay Lohia said many NPS subscribers continue to remain in the “default mode” with respect to their pension investments even after several years.He said an analysis was required on how much flexibility should be available to pension subscribers, while stressing that pension fund managers should understand their responsibilities and not treat NPS as “another scheme”.
PFRDA Chairman Sivasubramanian Ramann said the NPS subscriber base had grown 27% over the past year, with the non-government sector remaining a key focus area. He said NPS manages a corpus equivalent to about 5% of India’s GDP, while Atal Pension Yojana enrolments had reached 1.35 crore.