THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
NEW
DELHI, JANUARY 13, 2026
In a significant push towards strengthening
retirement security and financial inclusion in India’s MSME sector, the Pension
Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), in collaboration with its
implementation partner PwC, conducted extensive awareness sessions on the National
Pension System (NPS) during the 2nd Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference (VGRC)
held in Rajkot on January 11 and 12, 2026.
The VGRC,
inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is part of the flagship Vibrant
Gujarat Global Summit series that has, since its inception in 2003, evolved
into a globally recognised platform for fostering business collaboration,
knowledge exchange and sustainable economic development. The regional
conferences aim to showcase Gujarat’s grassroots potential while aligning with
the national vision of Viksit Bharat @2047 and Viksit Gujarat @2047.
The Regional
MSME Conclave, organised on the second day of the conference, brought together
policymakers, industry leaders and entrepreneurs to deliberate on the future of
the MSME ecosystem. The conclave was graced by Union Minister for Commerce and
Industry Piyush Goyal, Gujarat Minister Jitubhai Savjibhai Vaghani and
Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister Dr Hasmukh Adhia, underlining the
government’s strong commitment to MSME growth and development.
Addressing
MSME stakeholders, Mamta Rohit, Executive Director, PFRDA, underscored the
growing urgency of retirement planning in a sector that employs nearly 29 crore
people across India. She highlighted that India is ageing rapidly, yet only
about 29 per cent of the elderly population currently receives any form of
pension, warning that without timely intervention, the gap between dignified
ageing and financial insecurity could widen sharply. She noted that the MSME
sector, employing over 32 crore people nationwide and ranking second only to
agriculture, plays a pivotal role in the country’s economic and social fabric.
In Gujarat alone, she said, there are around 42 lakh registered MSMEs spread
across more than 230 GIDC industrial estates and nearly 186 MSME clusters.
Rohit
positioned NPS as a cost-effective, flexible and tax-efficient retirement
solution for MSMEs, emphasising that it requires no minimum employee count and
offers full portability across jobs and geographies. As of January 2026, she
pointed out, NPS and Atal Pension Yojana together manage assets worth ₹16.53 lakh crore and serve over 9.28 crore subscribers
nationwide. She also highlighted recent reforms, including higher equity
exposure limits, greater withdrawal flexibility, extension of the maximum account holding
age to 85 years and the introduction of NPS Vatsalya for early pension
planning, describing NPS as not merely a pension product but a promise of
dignity, stability and security for India’s workforce.
The conclave
featured a diverse panel of distinguished speakers, including Ramesh Iyer, CEO
of TCS Korea and Chairman of the Indian Chamber of Commerce Korea; Chandubhai
Virani, Chairman of Balaji Wafers Group; Zlata Antusheva from the Trade
Representation of the Russian Federation in India; Anil Gupta of GIAN, SRISTI
and the Honeybee Network; Padma Shri awardee Mansukhbhai Raghavjibhai Prajapati
of Mitticool; and Parvathi Moorthy, Associate Vice President at the National
Stock Exchange, enriching discussions with global and grassroots perspectives.
PFRDA also set
up a dedicated stall at the Udyami Mela in Hall No. 1, where officials, along
with PwC teams and Points of Presence representatives, engaged directly with
entrepreneurs to explain NPS enrollment procedures and benefits. The
interactions highlighted the NPS Corporate Sector Model as a robust platform
enabling employers to offer long-term social security to employees through
flexible contribution options, reinforcing PFRDA’s commitment to building a
financially secure future for India’s MSME workforce.
