Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) Chairman Deepak Mohanty said the regulator would permit pension funds to invest in sovereign green bonds, reported Press Trust of India.
The government is expected to issue sovereign green bonds in the second half of the current financial year (H2FY24) as part of an overall borrowing programme.
As of now, there are 10 pension fund managers that manage funds under the National Pension System.
In the last fiscal year (FY23), the government had raised ₹16,000 crore through the issuance of maiden sovereign green bonds with the objective to utilise the proceeds for funding public sector projects seeking to reduce carbon emissions.
Currently, the PFRDA’s assets under management (AUM) is at ₹9.8 trillion and will certainly be more than ₹11 trillion by FY24-end, Mohanty said.
Talking about Atal pension Yojana (APY) saturation drive, Mohanty said 2.9 million new subscribers have been enrolled during the first quarter of the current fiscal year (Q1FY24) against 2.7 million in Q1FY23.
The PFRDA has set a target of 13 million new subscribers under APY in FY24 as against 12 million in FY23. 55 million enrolments have taken place since the launch in 2015.
The PFRDA reviewed performance and strategies of banks and state-level bankers’ committees for 2023-24 to accelerate comprehensive coverage of APY.
The State Level Bankers' Committee in the North Zone have contributed significantly towards the FY23 target with Uttar Pradesh achieving 165 per cent of the target, followed by Madhya Pradesh (145 per cent), and Rajasthan (117 per cent), Mohanty said.
