Pension Bulletin
पेंशन बुलेटिन
Volume XIV, Issue X - November 2025
November 2025 EditionDownload the complete bulletin
Download PDFOverview
The Pension Bulletin is issued monthly by the Department of Policy Research, Market Watch and Systemic Risk under the direction of the Pension Bulletin Editorial Committee. This comprehensive report provides insights into India's pension ecosystem, economic indicators, and pension market developments.
Key Highlights
Indian Economy Performance
Nifty 50 Growth
Month-on-Month (October 2025)
Gold Price Rise
Monthly Increase
Inflation Rate
Record Low CPI
Economic Indicators Summary
Equity Market: NSE Nifty 50 rose to 25,722 from 24,611, gaining 4.5% in October 2025. Midcaps and smallcaps outperformed largecaps.
Commodity Market: Gold reached an all-time high of USD 4,053 per troy ounce, while crude oil eased to USD 65.1 per barrel.
FPI Inflows: Foreign portfolio investments recorded USD 1.67 billion inflow in equity, marking the first monthly inflow after three consecutive months of outflows.
Currency: INR depreciated 0.11% to Rs.88.42 per USD, continuing its fifth consecutive month of depreciation.
Government Securities Yields: G-sec yields showed mixed movement with 1-year declining to 5.6% while 10-year rose to 6.52%.
Management Speaks
Inflation-linked Payouts Under NPS in the Works
PFRDA Chairman S. Ramann has confirmed that the authority is exploring alternatives to mandatory annuities for NPS, including step-up Systematic Withdrawal Plans (SWPs) and inflation-protected payouts, due to subscriber reluctance to invest in annuities.
Key Proposal: Replacing the 40% mandatory annuity with 20% annuity and 20% SWP without tax implications, while maintaining the same tax treatment benefits under Section 80CCD.
Featured Articles
1. Sequence of Return Risk in Decumulation Phase
By Prodeepto Chatterjee, Deputy General Manager, PFRDA
This article explores sequence risk—the critical factor that determines how the timing of investment returns affects retirement portfolio sustainability. The research demonstrates through case studies that two portfolios with identical average returns can produce vastly different outcomes depending on when losses occur relative to withdrawals.
Key Finding: A retiree facing early market downturns withdraws significantly less over 20 years compared to one experiencing good returns early, even with the same average returns.
2. Batting for the Future: Pension Reforms and India's Retirement Game Plan
By Priyanka Gupta, General Manager, PFRDA
This article discusses India's pension revolution and highlights two major initiatives:
NPS Vatsalya: Launched in September 2024, allowing parents to open NPS accounts for minors. Already attracted over 1,00,000 subscribers within a year.
Multiple Scheme Framework (MSF): Effective October 1, 2025, offering flexibility for non-government sector with two risk variants—Moderate Risk and High-Risk (up to 100% equity).
NPS and APY Statistics (As of October 31, 2025)
Total Subscribers
14.4% YoY Growth
Total AUM
21.03% YoY Growth
Total Contributions
21.6% YoY Growth
Sector-wise Breakdown
| Sector | Subscribers (Lakh) | YoY Growth % | Share % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Government (CG) | 27.94 | 4.3 | 3.1 |
| State Government (SG) | 74.29 | 9.6 | 8.2 |
| Government Sub Total | 102.23 | 8.1 | 11.3 |
| Corporate Sector | 25.53 | 17.6 | 2.8 |
| All Citizen | 45.96 | 18.5 | 5.1 |
| Atal Pension Yojana (APY) | 695.88 | 15.7 | 76.9 |
International Perspective: OECD Pension Markets in Focus 2025
Global pension assets reached an unprecedented peak of USD 69.8 trillion in 2024, with a 7.1% growth rate across OECD countries. Key global trends include:
Asset Growth: Fastest growth in Turkey, Baltic countries, and Greece with over 20% increases.
Shift to DC Plans: Defined contribution plans now represent 68.1% of total assets, up from 60.3% in 2014.
Strong Investment Performance: OECD pension funds recorded 9.1% average nominal returns with 8.5% in public reserve funds.
Higher Equity Allocation: Average equity allocation increased from 19.4% in 2008 to 29.3% in 2024 across 14 major jurisdictions.
India's Pension System Highlights
Strong Expansion Phase
India's National Pension System (NPS) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) together cover 8.39 crore citizens managing Rs 14.36 lakh crore in assets. APY has expanded to 6.41 crore subscribers delivering nearly 9% average annual returns since inception.
Notable Achievement: Launch of the Balanced Life Cycle Fund in October 2024, offering members elevated equity exposure with a new glide path for higher returns.
Age-Associated Financial Vulnerability (AAFV)
The bulletin includes a comprehensive article on Age-associated Financial Vulnerability, addressing how older adults become susceptible to poor financial decisions, fraud, and exploitation. Key insights include:
Cognitive Changes: Executive dysfunction and reduced working memory can undermine the capacity to compare products and detect unreasonable charges.
Digital Risk: Rapid digitalization creates vulnerability for older cohorts with low digital literacy.
India Context: By 2050, India is projected to have 300 million older persons as the 60+ population increases by 134%.
Policy Solutions: Expanding NPS and APY coverage, strengthening social pensions, and integrating financial literacy in elderly education.
Recent PFRDA Circulars and Guidelines (October 2025)
1. Extended UPS Option Cut-off Date
Circular No: PFRDA/2025/14/SUP-CG-SG/06 (October 6, 2025)
Extended the cut-off date for exercising Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) option by two months until November 30, 2025, for eligible central government employees and their dependents.
2. Source Nodal Office Authorization for Government Sector
Circular No: PFRDA/2025/15/SUP-CRA/1 (October 10, 2025)
Made authorization from source Nodal Office mandatory for Inter-Sector Shifting (ISS) and exit requests when the subscriber-employer relationship ceases across all government sector segments.
3. Subscriber Onboarding Guidelines
Circular No: PFRDA/2025/18/REG-POP/03 (October 17, 2025)
Introduced streamlined onboarding process with CKYC acceleration and digital KYC options for NPS All-Citizen/Corporate model subscribers.
4. Non-Individual Intermediaries as Pension Agents
Circular No: PFRDA/2025/17/REG-POP/02 (October 16, 2025)
Clarified that Points of Presence may engage Non-Individual Intermediaries registered with financial sector regulators (RBI, IRDAI, SEBI, PFRDA) as Pension Agents for pension schemes distribution.
5. NPS e-shramik Platform Service Partner Model
Circular No: PFRDA/2025/19/PDES/02 (October 29, 2025)
Introduced NPS e-shramik model extending NPS to gig workers and platform service partners with flexible contribution options and incentives of up to Rs 100 per new account until March 31, 2026.
Key Takeaways
Pension System Growth: India's pension system continues robust expansion with 14.4% subscriber growth and 21.03% AUM growth year-on-year.
Regulatory Evolution: PFRDA is making pension systems more accessible through multiple frameworks including MSF, Vatsalya, and e-shramik models.
Economic Stability: Strong investment performance with positive net cash flows supports pension system health and asset accumulation.
Demographic Challenge: Rising elderly population necessitates robust pension coverage, financial literacy, and protection against age-associated financial vulnerability.
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