Summary of this article
Arun Muralidhar proposes inflation-linked pension bonds.
InDIAS aims for predictable retirement income.
Digital rails can enable universal micro-pensions.
India is standing at the cusp of a big bang moment in the pension reform system, Arun Muralidhar, co-founder of MCube Investment Technologies LLC and Alpha Engine Global Investment Solutions LLC, and Adjunct Faculty at Georgetown University, said at the fourth edition of IDFC FIRST Bank presents Outlook Money 40After40 Retirement Expo in Mumbai on February 20, 2026.
He laid out a straightforward and practical roadmap for helping Indians on their journey towards a safe and sound retirement. “Individuals often underestimate the complexity of the decisions involved in this decision-making; how much to save, how to invest, and how to draw down savings in retirement. When governments manage pensions, risk is averaged across generations. But when individuals manage their own finances and retirement planning, they only have limited time and not much room to make mistakes,” he said.
He, however, added that blindly copying Western models of pension system in a country like India, which is much more diverse won’t work. “For a country like India, the challenge is much greater, with high density in the informal and unorganised sector, gig-workers, agricultural labourers, and self-employed citizens. When individuals from these sectors navigate complex financial markets without structural support could lead to widespread retirement insecurity,” he said.
From Corpus to Cash Flow
He said traditional financial products like equities, real estate investments, and even long-term government bonds are designed for wealth accumulation, not income matching. They generate cash flows that rarely align with retirees’ actual needs and standards. This mismatch introduces unnecessary risk and instability.
To solve this, Muralidhar proposed a simple yet transformative idea, which is to create a new government-backed instrument called Inflation-Linked Deferred Income Annuity-like Securities (InDIAS).
Designing a “Super Accessible” Pension
Muralidhar framed this vision with the acronym “SUPER Accessible.” He said this should be Simple, Universal, Portable, Efficient, and Returns-Oriented while also being Adequate, Choice-Driven, Certain in outcome, Low-Cost, Employer-Friendly, and Secure.
He said that India is already equipped with the digital rails to make this possible, just as with Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which has revolutionised the digital payment ecosystem across the country.
“If a street vendor can transact seamlessly, and without uncertainty through QR codes, the same system can also allow micro-pension contributions,” he said.
The InDIAS Solution
He said, under the proposed InDIAS structure, individuals can purchase bonds that pay nothing until retirement, say the age of 65, and then deliver inflation protected monthly income for the next 20 years.
“Each bond would promise a fixed real monthly payout. If a worker needs Rs 5,000 per month in retirement, they simply accumulate enough bonds to meet their ideal goal. This comes without the complex compounding math and no opaque projections,” he added.
He said the model proposed is digitally integrated, the retirement goals are selected on the app, and contributions are made seamlessly. Most importantly, these bonds are inheritable, portable and digitally traceable, he added.
He said the design would reduce the administrative costs, thereby eliminating the need for complex pension fund management for low-income workers and also directly matching their assets to their retirement income needs and standards.
Evaluating PFRDA’s Vision
Muralidhar applauded the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) for clearly articulating the retirement objectives. He highlighted innovations within the proposed National Pension System (NPS) variations, especially the idea of separating guaranteed real income from standard of living adjustments
He said the concept of pension credits under the NPS variant 3 was laudable. Here, retirement guarantees could be broken into smaller five-year segments, making it easier for private players to offer manageable guarantees.
However, he cautioned that without the supportive instruments from the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), product providers will struggle to deliver true real-income protection, especially in inflation-linked securities.
He further said that India has a rare opportunity to leapfrog the Western pension systems that are straightforward and rigid. Rather than mandating rigid products, regulators are offering a framework that encourages private sector creativity while protecting individual goals.
“The ultimate aim is straightforward: ensure that every Indian, formal and informal workers, can maintain their pre-retirement standard of living with dignity and certainty. If India can combine digital innovation, regulatory vision and financial engineering, it may not only secure its own retirees but set a global benchmark in pension design,” he added.
