Collections under senior citizen savings scheme at Rs 55,000 crore since April 2023

Collections under the small savings scheme for senior citizens (SCSS) record a corpus of Rs 55,000 crore for Q1 of this fiscal year, a finance ministry official said.

The fresh mop-up under this scheme was more than Rs 15,000 crore in addition to the existing one, resulting in a net addition of Rs 55,000 crore until June 30, the official added.

As per the latest data accessed by Business Today TV, 6.52 lakh new accounts have been created in the last 3 months under SCSS, which is more than double the number of created last year in Q1 at 2.96 Lakh.

The Union Budget for FY24 had raised the deposit limit under the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme to Rs 30 lakh from Rs 15 lakh. The scheme offered an attractive interest rate of 8.2 per cent in the June quarter, compared to 8 per cent in the previous three months. The interest is payable every quarter.

"It is because of the higher rate of interest, and also the increased maximum deposit limit," the official added.

The government has budgeted Rs 4.71 lakh crore of small savings collections for FY24.