The Centre has often claimed that the interest rates on various Small Savings schemes, like the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, National Savings Certificates and Kisan Vikas Patra, are comparatively better than the fixed deposit schemes offered by public and private banks.
In the current volatile market situation, bank fixed schemes are touted to be safer as their returns are not linked to market-linked schemes.
Several banks have revised their interest rates and are offering attractive inflation-beating fixed deposit rates after the Reserve Bank of India raised its repo rate in the first week of February. The banks are offering long-term deposits of 5 to 10 years, where interest rates are as high as 7.5 per cent.
Let's compare the FD rates of top banks and interest rates of Kisan Vikas Patra.
Kisan Vikas Patra is one of the popular small savings schemes offered by the Post Office. The interest rate for KVP is revised by the Union Government on a quarterly basis. The Centre will offer 7.2 per cent from January-March 2023.
The bank FD rates were revised in response to rising inflation and an increase in repo rates by the Reserve Bank of India. Any investment in a KVP account will double in 10 years, with an interest rate of 7.2 per cent. Kisan Vikas Patra has a lock-in period of 2 years and 6 months.
The minimum deposit for a KVP account is Rs 1,000, there is no maximum investment limit.
A child over the age of 10 years can open a KVP account.
All major banks, from the State Bank of India SBI HDFC Bank Limited, Punjab National Bank PNB ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank to Axis Bank, have revised their interest rates. Small finance banks SFBs provide a return of up to 9.5 per cent on fixed deposits, while national banks offer a return of up to 7.5 - 8 per cent on fixed deposits.
Senior citizens get an additional benefit that ensures that tax liability is minimal or nil, even though bank FD interest is taxable.
Senior citizens can get 7.5 per cent interest from SBI, the country's largest bank by assets for a period of 10 years. Deposits below 2 crore are eligible for these rates. An investor can earn more than 2.10 lakh in a mere 10 years if he has a deposit of 1 lakh. Here is the calculation.
The new fixed deposit scheme was introduced by SBI for a period of 400 days, Amrit Kalash Deposit. The interest rate for senior citizens is 7.60 per cent. The senior citizen customers of Punjab National Bank PNB will get 7.3 percent of the scheme for a period of 10 years. An investor can earn up to Rs 2.14 lakh by the end of 10 years with a deposit of 1 lakh in PNB at 7.3 per cent interest.
HDFC Bank is offering a special scheme for senior citizens Citizen Care FD, where the interest rate is 7.75 per cent for a period of 10 years. The scheme is available until March 31, 2023. Deposits under 2 crore are eligible for the offer.
Senior citizens can earn up to 2.15 lakh after 10 years if they invest at 7.75 per cent interest.
ICICI Bank Golden Years FD is a dedicated fixed deposit scheme for senior citizens, where the interest rate is 7.50 per cent for tenors of 10 years. Deposits below 2 crore are eligible to apply for the scheme until April 7, 2023.
Senior citizens can earn Rs 2.1 lakh after 10 years with investment of Rs 1 lakh at 7.5 per cent.