NEW DELHI: The pensions regulator has clarified that non-resident Indians (NRIs) can invest in National Pension System (NPS) to get a social security cover.The Reserve Bank has already communicated to pension sector regulator about NRIs being eligible to make such investments “There was some ambiguity about whether to add NPS as eligible investment by NRI. So, we took up the matter with RBI and very recently they have given this clarification that NPS like insurance and mutual fund could also be eligible investment for NRIs,” said Hemant Contractor, chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), adding that the government will shortly be coming out with clarification to that effect in the FEMA guidelines.Contractor said that NPS scheme for NRIs will benefit all individuals especially those living in the Middle-East as they do not have any mandatory social security benefit.“NPS could prove to be a long term solution to their old age income security if these NRIs are persuaded to join NPS and save for their retirement income,” he said.India has the second-largest diaspora in the world, with around 29 million people living in over 200 countries and out of these 25% live in the Gulf countries.This window would provide NRIs to save money for their old age, said Contractor adding that they would also enjoy the tax break as prescribed.PFRDA is in talks with lenders such as SBI, HDFC Bank Canara Bank , Indian Bank and several other south India-based banks to tap potential of NRIs.“We have started talking to bankers about attracting NRIs to enroll for NPS scheme. We see NRIs as very attractive market for NPS. We would like to push for NPS for the NRIs,” said Contractor.The move is further expected help to increase the subscriber base and expand the pension corpus in the private sector. At present, NPS has more than 92 lakhs subscribers with total Asset Under Management (AUM) of more than Rs 89,946 crore.