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.
The NPS is a great way to save tax if you don't mind locking in your money till you retire. Till last year, the taxability of the NPS was a big issue. But last year's Budget changed the rules and made 40% of the corpus tax free. The PFRDA wants that the balance 60% to be exempt from tax as well. The emphasis is on increasing pension coverage. So, allowing EEE status (to NPS ) is our major demand (in the Budget NPS is especially useful for investors who may have exhausted the `1.5 lakh investment limit under Section 80C but want to save more. Another way the NPS can cut tax is by rejigging the salary.If a company deposits up to 10% of the basic salary of an employee in the NPS under Section 80CCD(2d), the amount will be tax free. Turn to page 28 to see how much tax this can save. However, the take-home pay of the employee will come down. Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax upto Rs 46,350 under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Funds Top 10 Tax...
