Finance Minister P Chidambaram today proposed liberalising the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme to enable first time investors to park funds in MFs and listed shares and extended tax benefits to three successive years.

Also, the limit for investors wanting to invest in RGESS has been raised to Rs 12 lakh from Rs 10 lakh earlier.

The RGESS will be liberalised to enable first time retail investors to invest in mutual funds and listed shares and not in one year alone, but for three successive years, Chidambaram said while presenting the Budget 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha.

The RGESS, which was originally announced in the Budget for 2012-13, seeks to provide tax benefits to first-time investors in stock markets.

Under the scheme, an individual with an income of less than Rs 12 lakh would get tax incentives for investing up to Rs 50,000 in the stock market.