New Delhi: The amounts deposited under the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme in April-September of the current financial year (FY24) totalled Rs 74,625 crore, which is 160 per cent more than the Rs 28,715 crore deposited under the scheme in the same period last financial year (FY23), a central government official said.
In her last union budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had increased the maximum deposit limit for Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS) to Rs 30 lakh from Rs 15 lakh and for Monthly Income Account Scheme to Rs 9 lakh from Rs 4.5 lakh for single accounts and to Rs 15 lakh from Rs 9 lakh for joint accounts.
She had also announced a one-time new small savings scheme, Mahila Samman Savings Certificate (MSSC), that would be made available for a two-year period up to March 2025. “This will offer deposit facility upto Rs 2 lakh in the name of women or girls for a tenor of 2 years at fixed interest rate of 7.5 per cent with partial withdrawal option,” Sitharaman had said.
Deposits under the MSSC till September 30 came upto Rs 13,512 crore, the official said, on condition of anonymity.
“The response for SCSS, MSSC and other small savings schemes have been very healthy. The national small savings schemes still remain the best and safest investment opportunities for most citizens,” the official told reporters.
The SCSS has an interest rate of 8.2 per cent for a deposit tenure of five years, while MSSC attracts a rate of 7.5 per cent annual returns for a deposit tenure of two years.
Published 23 October 2023, 15:06 IST