Atal Pension Yojana extended till 2030-31: All you need to know

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the continuation of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) up to the financial year 2030-31 (FY31), and extended the funding support for promotional and developmental activities. 

“The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today approved the continuation of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) up to FY 2030-31 along with extension of funding support for promotional and developmental activities and gap funding,” the Ministry of Finance said in a release on Wednesday, January 21. 

The government will continue to provide support for:

• Promotional and developmental activities aimed at expanding outreach among unorganised workers, including awareness and capacity building.
• Gap funding to keep the scheme viable and sustainable. 

How will this affect pensioners?

The extension of this scheme:

• Ensures old-age income security for low-income and unorganised sector workers.
• Improves financial inclusion in India, supporting the country’s transition to a pensioned society.
• Provides sustainable social security and supports the Viksit Bharat @2047 mission. 

More about APY

The Atal Pension Yojana was launched on May 9, 2015, to provide old-age income security to unorganised sector workers. It offers a guaranteed minimum pension of ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 per month starting at age 60. 

It is funded by subscribers' contributions and managed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). Under the scheme, subscribers choose a pension amount (₹1,000-₹5,000) and contribute monthly, quarterly or half-yearly. They contribute until the age of 60 and start receiving a pension.

After the death of the subscriber, their spouse receives the same pension amount until their death. After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee receives the pension accumulated until 60 years of age. 

Any Indian citizen between the ages of 18 and 40 with a savings bank account or post office account is eligible for this scheme. Income taxpayers aren’t eligible under this scheme.

“In case a subscriber, who joined on or after 1st October, 2022, is subsequently found to have been an income-tax payer on or before the date of application, the APY account shall be closed, and the accumulated pension wealth till date would be given to the subscriber,” according to the official government document. 

According to official data, if a subscriber joins at the age of 18 and chooses the ₹5,000 pension amount by contributing ₹210 monthly, they can generate a corpus of ₹8.5 lakh.

As the scheme offers a guaranteed pension, if the accumulated corpus based on contributions earns a lower-than-estimated return on investment and isn’t sufficient to provide the minimum guaranteed pension, the central government funds the inadequacy. If returns are higher, subscribers get more benefits.

As of January 19, 2026, more than 8.66 crore subscribers have been enrolled under the APY scheme.