The government has announced a new one-time female-specific small savings scheme – Mahila Samman Saving Certificates. This will have a tenure of 2 years where women or girls can deposit unto Rs 2 lakh for a period of 2 years at fixed rate of 7.5%. Partial withdrawal shall be allowed as well. There would be no additional tax benefits on this scheme as per current details that are available. This is a one-time scheme announced in Budget 2023 and will remain available for a 2-year period only up to March 2025.
Here are few simple FAQs for answering some common questions about Mahila Samman Savings Certificate.
What is interest rate of Mahila Samman Savings Certificate?
The interest rate is fixed at 7.5% per annum for a period of 2 years.
What is the tenure of Mahila Samman Savings Certificate?
The tenure of the new small savings scheme for women is 2 years.
Is there any tax benefit for investing in Mahila Samman Savings Certificate?
No there are no tax benefits for investing in Mahila Samman Savings Certificate.
Can I make a partial withdrawal from Mahila Samman Savings Certificate?
Yes partial withdrawals can be made from Mahila Samman Savings Certificate.
I think this new Mahila Samman Savings Certificate is suitable for those women who generally arent part of the formal small savings instruments (for shor term) and giving them higher rate of interest (compared to many bank FDs) will encourage such women to adopt this and other small saving instruments in times to come.
If you are a women looking to park money for just 2 years, then Mahila Samman Savings Certificate can be a worthwhile option, but given the investment limit of just Rs 2 lakh (one time) and a very short tenure of 2 years, I think you can skip this scheme. But at least for the Rs 2 lakh that you can invest here, you get better returns compared to bank fixed deposits and post office time deposits.
This scheme is quite different from Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana. As quoted in a MoneyControl news item (link), my view is that “While both the newly announced Mahila Samman Savings Certificates and existing Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana cater to savings for women, the latter is only for parents looking to save for the girl child’s long-term future,” says Dev Ashish, a SEBI-Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and Founder of StableInvestor. He added, MSSC having a two-year tenure is a short-term product, and hence, cannot ideally be compared with long-term instruments such as SSY.