Atal Pension Yojana Calculator — Monthly Contribution & Pension Table

Atal Pension Yojana is India's government-backed pension scheme specifically for the unorganised sector — anyone between 18 and 40 years who has a savings bank account and Aadhaar. The premise is simple: contribute a fixed monthly amount, get a guaranteed pension of ₹1,000 to ₹5,000/month from age 60. No market risk, no fund manager decisions.

The CalcHub APY Calculator tells you exactly what you need to contribute based on when you join.

APY Monthly Contribution Table

The contribution depends on your age at enrollment and the pension amount you choose. Younger enrollment = lower monthly contribution for the same pension.

To get ₹1,000/month pension from age 60:

Entry Age	Monthly Contribution	Years to Contribute	Total Contributed
18 years	₹42	42 years	₹21,168
20 years	₹50	40 years	₹24,000
25 years	₹76	35 years	₹31,920
30 years	₹116	30 years	₹41,760
35 years	₹181	25 years	₹54,300
40 years	₹291	20 years	₹69,840

To get ₹5,000/month pension from age 60:

Entry Age	Monthly Contribution	Years to Contribute	Total Contributed
18 years	₹210	42 years	₹1,05,840
20 years	₹248	40 years	₹1,19,040
25 years	₹376	35 years	₹1,57,920
30 years	₹577	30 years	₹2,07,720
35 years	₹902	25 years	₹2,70,600
40 years	₹1,454	20 years	₹3,48,960

All pension levels — entry age 25:

Pension Amount	Monthly Contribution	Total Contributed
₹1,000/month	₹76	₹31,920
₹2,000/month	₹151	₹63,420
₹3,000/month	₹226	₹94,920
₹4,000/month	₹301	₹1,26,420
₹5,000/month	₹376	₹1,57,920

Spouse and Nominee Benefits

APY isn't just about your pension. Here's what happens after you:

• On subscriber's death: Spouse receives the same monthly pension for their lifetime


• On spouse's death: Nominee receives the entire accumulated corpus as a lump sum


• The corpus backing a ₹5,000/month pension is approximately ₹8.5 lakh

This makes APY a useful death benefit alongside the pension, particularly for subscribers with dependent spouses who might outlive them.

Government Co-Contribution (Ended)

From 2015 to 2020, the government co-contributed 50% of the subscriber's contribution (up to ₹1,000/year) for five years — for eligible subscribers who enrolled before March 2016. That co-contribution period ended in 2020. New subscribers today get no government co-contribution. The scheme itself continues.

Who Is Eligible?

• Indian citizen, aged 18 to 40 years
• Must have a savings bank account or post office savings account
• Not a beneficiary of any other statutory social security scheme (EPF, NPS, ESIC, etc.)
• From October 2022: Income taxpayers are no longer eligible to join APY

The last point matters — if you file ITR and are an income tax assessee, you cannot enroll in APY from October 1, 2022 onwards.

APY vs NPS — Key Differences

Feature	APY	NPS
Target group	Unorganised sector, non-taxpayers	Anyone, including corporate employees
Return type	Guaranteed fixed pension (₹1K–5K)	Market-linked, variable pension
Flexibility	Fixed contribution for fixed pension	Flexible contribution, flexible corpus
Minimum age	18 years	18 years
Maximum entry age	40 years	70 years
Pension start age	60 years	60 years
Tax benefit	Section 80CCD(1) — within ₹1.5L limit	80CCD(1) + extra 80CCD(1B) ₹50K
Market risk	Zero (government guaranteed)	Yes
Portability	Across bank accounts	Yes

APY is better for guaranteed security with small contributions. NPS is better for larger retirement corpus with potential for higher returns.

Premature Exit

Before 60 years, exit is allowed only in exceptional circumstances (subscriber's death, terminal illness). On exit, you receive the accumulated corpus plus interest — but this is typically less than what you'd have built via a comparable FD/RD, since APY returns are optimised for the 60-year payout model, not early exit.

---

Can I increase my APY pension amount after enrolling?

Yes — you can upgrade to a higher pension amount once a year (April). You cannot downgrade. So it makes sense to start with a lower amount and increase as your income grows, rather than committing to a higher contribution from day one.

What if I miss contributions?

APY penalises missed payments: ₹1 per month for contributions up to ₹100, ₹2 per month for ₹101–₹500, ₹5 per month for ₹501–₹1,000, ₹10 per month for above ₹1,000. If overdue payments continue, the account gets frozen and eventually closed after some years.

Is APY better than just putting ₹200/month in an equity SIP?

From a pure wealth creation angle, a ₹200/month SIP at 12% CAGR over 35 years (joining at 25) → ₹1,07,000 lump sum, generating about ₹10,000/month at 4% withdrawal. APY at 25 for ₹5,000 pension costs ₹376/month. The SIP technically delivers more — but with market risk and withdrawal discipline required. APY is simpler and guaranteed.

---

Related Calculators

• NPS Calculator — larger retirement corpus planning
• PPF Calculator — guaranteed long-term savings
• SIP Calculator — equity-based retirement building
• Post Office Savings Calculator — all government schemes