PFRDA appoints Dinesh Khara to main panel to attract global pension capital | Today’s news
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) on Wednesday said it has appointed Dinesh Khara, chairman of the NPS Trust, to head a high-level committee to come up with a plan to attract long-term global pension capital to India. This will be achieved through a partnership between overseas pension funds and Indian pension funds under the National Pension Scheme (NPS), as the regulator seeks to deepen the country’s long-term investment base for infrastructure and economic growth.
The committee called ASCEND (Accelerated Scaling of Global Capital Ecosystem and NPS Development) will recommend measures to enable Indian pension funds to collaborate with leading global pension funds through co-investment platforms, strategic partnerships and innovative investment structures. PFRDA said such collaboration is expected to channel stable patient capital into infrastructure and other assets for nation-building while offering diversification and better long-term risk-adjusted returns to NPS subscribers.
The panel will also recommend a policy, regulatory and governance framework to facilitate greater participation by global pension investors while protecting participants’ interests and financial stability. According to the regulator, the initiative is aimed at strengthening Indian pension funds as trusted domestic partners for global institutional investors, accelerating the growth of NPS assets and positioning India as a preferred destination for long-term capital.
Apart from Khara, the committee includes Narayan Ramachandran, chairman of TeamLease Services Ltd; Ananth Narayan, former permanent member of Sebi; Ashvin Parekh, Managing Partner at Ashvin Parekh Advisory Services; Arvind Gupta, Trustee, NPS Trust; and Suparna Tandon, CEO, NPS Trust, who will serve as Member Secretary.
The regulator said the committee’s recommendations are expected to lay the foundation for a globally competitive pension ecosystem that supports India’s long-term infrastructure funding needs. Pension funds under the NPS currently manage assets worth about USD 185 billion ( ₹17.5 trillion) – equivalent to around 5% of India’s GDP – to nearly 100 million subscribers.
The PFRDA is the statutory regulator for India’s pension sector, established under the PFRDA Act, 2013. It oversees the National Pension System (NPS), a voluntary defined contribution pension scheme launched by the Government of India on 1 January 2004 for new employees of the Central Government (excluding the Armed Forces). The scheme was opened to all Indian citizens on a voluntary basis in May 2009 and later extended to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs). As of June 2026, NPS manages assets of more than ₹17.5 trillion (about USD 185 billion) to nearly 10 million subscribers, making it one of India’s fastest growing long-term savings platforms.
