The pros and cons of Mahila Sammaan

Hyderabad: If you are investing for two years only, Mahila Samman Savings Certificate is a worthwhile option, as post office time deposits and bank fixed deposits are the only rivals in the assured returns space. But they both offer lower returns.

The question is whether this scheme is beneficial? Lets look at its pros and cons. It's a one-time small saving scheme for women, providing an assured return of 7.5 per cent annum. Under this scheme one can invest between April 2023 and March 2025 upto Rs two lakh. The investment tenure is two years with assured interest rate of 7.5 per cent with partial withdraw facility.

Despite an attractive rate of return, it does not make a big difference to an investor, given the investment limit of just Rs 2 lakh (one time) and a very short tenure of 2 years. Say you invest the maximum possible amount of Rs 2 lakh. You'd earn Rs 15,000 in the first year and Rs 16,125 in the second.

That makes your Rs 2 lakh investment a little over Rs 2.31 lakh at the end of the investment tenure, given the investment tenure is just two years. That doesn't really make much of a difference to your wealth. It is not yet known whether the interest income is taxable or not. If it is taxable it would dent the returns.