More options for housing societies

The more-aware housing societies are already shifting their investment to debt mutual funds and arbitrage mutual funds

There are an estimated 70,000 cooperative housing societies (CHS) in Maharashtra, ranging from those with members in single digits to a few mammoth societies with hundreds of members. So far, these societies had limited choices to invest their long-term funds such as sinking funds and repair funds. A society's investment avenues are strictly governed by the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960. The Act provided that the society could invest either in any other good cooperative bank (as defined there) or in any of the securities specified in the Indian Trust Act (ITA), 1882. Turning to the ITA was like travelling