Written on December 20, 2011 at 5:21 am by Amit

Interest Rates for Small Savings Schemes – Govt. of India

Filed under Fixed Deposit, Fixed Income, Saving Account {no comments}

Recently Government of India has revised interest rates and maturity periods for its small saving schemes. These small saving schemes include – Post Office Savings Account, Post Office Recurring Deposit, Monthly Income Account Scheme, Post Office Time Deposit, NSC, PPF, KVP, Senior citizens savings scheme and more. The post below briefs about all these schemes.

Post Office Savings Account (POSA)

Interest Rates increased from 3.50% to 4.00% per annum
Tax free interest upto Rs. 3500 in single account & Rs. 7000 in joint account in a year
No limit on maximum deposit

Post Office Recurring Deposit (PORD) (5 Years)

Deposit Rs 10 per month for 5 years and get Rs. 738.62 on maturity
Interest Rate increased from 7.50% to 8.00%
No limit on maximum deposit

Monthly Income Account Scheme (MIS) (5 Years)

Interest Rate increased from 8.0% to 8.2% p.a.
Maturity period reduced from 6 years to 5 years
Maximum limit of deposit in single account is Rs. 4.5 Lakh and in Rs. 9 Lakh in joint account
Bonus payable on maturity is discontinued on accounts opened on or after December 1, 2011. No effect on accounts opened before this date

Post Office Time Deposit (POTD) (1 – 5 Years)

No limit on maximum deposit

Period (Years)	Interest Rates (p.a.)		Maturity Amount for Rs 100 (Rs.)
Period (Years)	Old	New	Maturity Amount for Rs 100 (Rs.)
1	6.25%	7.70%	107.93
2	6.50%	7.80%	116.71
3	7.25%	8.00%	126.82
5	7.50%	8.30%	150.8

Deposits upto Rs 1 Lakh for 5 Years are deductible under section 80C of the IT Act 1961

5-Year National Savings Certificate (NSC) (VIII Issue)

Interest rate increased from 8.2% to 8.4% p.a.
Maturity period reduced from 6 years to 5 years
Rs. 100 would become Rs. 150.9 in 5 years
No limit on maximum deposits
Deposits upto Rs 1 Lakh are deductible under section 80C of the IT Act 1961

Senior Citizens Saving Scheme (SCSS) (5 Years)

Maximum limit of deposit in single/joint account Rs. 15 Lakh
Interest rate of 9% p.a.
Deposits upto Rs 1 Lakh are deductible under section 80C of the IT Act 1961

Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme (15 years)

Interest rate incresed from 8.0% to 8.6%
Maximum limit of deposit in a financial year increased from Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 1 Lakh
Deposits upto Rs 1 Lakh are deductible under section 80C of the IT Act 1961
Tax free interest

10 years National Saving Certificate (NSC) (IX issue)

New scheme with interest rate of 8.7% p.a.
Rs. 100 would become Rs. 234.35 in 10 years
No limit of maximum deposit
Deposits upto Rs 1 Lakh are deductible under section 80C of the IT Act 1961

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP)

Discontinued from December 1, 2011
No effect on existing certificate holders

Where to invest?

All schemes available in more than 1.55 Lakh post offices
PPF and Senior citizens savings scheme also available in select branches of 25 nationalised and other banks