Market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), is set to launch 1,500-2,000 super-ATM centres across the country in the next 12-18 months for the growth of the mutual fund industry, a top official said. "To facilitate investments in mutual funds and availability of information to investors, we need to create a huge infrastructure. We are trying to build this through a concept of super-ATM centres around the country," Sebi's executive director, KN Vaidyanathan, said at a mutual fund award function here. At the press of a button in super-ATMs, investors would be able to transact and get all the information about mutual fund schemes. The ATMs will also send queries and receive information, he said. Sebi would partner with the mutual fund industry to build infrastructure and a large part of the work will be in place in the next 12-18-months. Mr Vaidyanathan said that the mutual fund industry was poised to grow from Rs 3-lakh-crore to Rs 30-lakh-crore in the next five years. The number of shareholder accounts was also set to grow from two crore to five crore in the next five years.
National Savings Certificate Here's everything you need to know about the 5-year savings scheme offered by the Government This is a 5-year small savings scheme of the government. From 1 July 2016, a National Savings Certificate (NSC) can be held in the electronic mode too. Physical pre-printed NSC certificates have been discontinued and replaced with Public Provident Fund-like passbooks. What's on offer The minimum amount you can invest in them is Rs100 and there is no upper limit. Under this scheme, all deposits up to Rs1.5 lakh qualify for deduction under section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The interest earned is taxable. You can invest in multiples of Rs 100. These certificates can be owned individually, jointly and also on behalf of minors. The interest rates for all small savings schemes are released on a quarterly basis. The effective rate for NSC from 1 October to 31 December is 8%. The interest is calculated on an annual compounding basis and is given along w...
