Your Complete NPS Resource Hub
Everything you need to make informed National Pension System decisions — from fund comparisons to retirement projections.
Learn About NPSComprehensive guides on tax benefits, withdrawal rules, investment strategies, and everything NPS.Start Learning →NPS FactsheetsCompare & choose the best funds across 10 pension fund managers with returns, risk metrics, and Ncash Score ratings.Explore Factsheets →NPS CalculatorProject your retirement corpus and tax savings. See how your NPS investments can grow over time.Calculate Now →NPS RankingsSee which NPS schemes rank highest by returns across Equity, Corporate Bonds, and Government Securities.View Rankings →Compare SchemesPick up to 3 NPS schemes and compare returns, risk metrics, and Ncash Scores side-by-side.Compare Now →
Understanding NPS
Everything you need to know about the National Pension System
The National Pension System (NPS) is a government-sponsored retirement savings scheme regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). It is a market-linked, defined contribution pension scheme that helps you systematically save for retirement.
Launched in 2004 for government employees and extended to all citizens in 2009, NPS and APY together have over 9 crore subscribers with NPS assets under management exceeding ₹14 lakh crore.
9+ CrNPS + APY Subscribers
₹14+ L CrNPS AUM
10Fund Managers
~0.09%Fund Charges
Frequently Asked Questions
Any Indian citizen between 18-70 years of age can invest in NPS. This includes salaried employees, self-employed individuals, NRIs, and OCI cardholders (Tier 1 only). You need a valid PAN card and KYC documents to open an account.
For Tier 1, the minimum contribution is ₹500 per transaction with a yearly minimum of ₹1,000. For Tier 2, you need ₹1,000 to open the account with minimum ₹250 per contribution.
Partial withdrawal is allowed after 3 years for specific purposes like higher education, marriage, home purchase, or medical treatment (up to 25% of own contributions, max 4 times). Premature exit before 60 requires at least 80% to be used for annuity purchase. If corpus is ₹2.5 lakh or less, full withdrawal is allowed.
For non-government subscribers, you can withdraw up to 80% of your corpus as a lump sum (of which 60% is tax-free under Section 10(12A)) and the remaining 20% must be used to purchase an annuity. Government subscribers follow the 60% lump sum / 40% annuity rule. If corpus is ₹5 lakh or less, full withdrawal is allowed.
Tier 1 is a retirement account with lock-in till 60 and tax benefits (under old tax regime). Tier 2 is a voluntary savings account with no lock-in and no tax benefits (except for govt employees under old regime). You must have Tier 1 to open Tier 2.
In Active Choice, you decide your allocation across Equity (max 75%), Corporate Bonds, and Govt Securities. In Auto Choice, allocation is based on your age — equity exposure reduces automatically as you age. Under the new Multiple Scheme Framework (MSF), non-government subscribers can also choose PFM-designed schemes with up to 100% equity.
You can choose from 10 PFMs: HDFC, SBI, ICICI, UTI, Kotak, LIC, Aditya Birla, Tata, Axis, and DSP. Compare their historical returns, consistency, and risk metrics before choosing. You can switch PFM once per year.
Under the old tax regime, NPS offers an additional ₹50,000 deduction under 80CCD(1B) beyond the 80C limit. Under the new tax regime, only employer contributions (80CCD(2), up to 14% of salary) qualify for deduction. NPS has among the lowest fund management costs (~0.09%). PPF offers guaranteed returns while ELSS has no lock-in at maturity. NPS is ideal for retirement-focused long-term investing.
You can open NPS online through the eNPS portal (enps.nps-proteantech.in) using Aadhaar-based eKYC, or offline through Points of Presence (PoPs) like banks. Corporate employees can enroll through their employer.
Yes, NRIs and OCI cardholders can invest in NPS Tier 1. Contributions must be made from an NRE/NRO account. If an NPS subscriber renounces Indian citizenship and does not hold an OCI card, the account must be closed.
