PPF Calculator
Project your Public Provident Fund maturity value and total interest earned, with a year-by-year balance breakdown across your full investment horizon.
| Year | Total invested | Balance |
|---|
Why PPF is a core long-term holding
Exempt at every stage
Contributions qualify for deduction under Section 80C, interest earned is tax-free, and the maturity amount is tax-free too — one of very few Exempt-Exempt-Exempt instruments available in India.
Sovereign guarantee, zero credit risk
PPF is backed directly by the Government of India, making it one of the lowest-risk long-term instruments available — the trade-off is a 15-year lock-in (extendable in 5-year blocks).
Earlier in the year earns more
Interest is calculated on the lowest balance between the 5th and end of each month — depositing before the 5th of April (or each month, for monthly depositors) maximises the interest earned for that period.
What is PPF, and why is it so widely recommended?
The Public Provident Fund (PPF) is a government-backed, long-term savings scheme open to all Indian residents, currently offering 7.1% per annum (the rate for the April–June 2026 quarter, unchanged since April 2020), compounded annually. It has remained one of the most consistently recommended savings instruments in India for decades, for three reasons that rarely all appear together in one product: a government (sovereign) guarantee, complete tax exemption on contributions, interest, and maturity proceeds, and a return that has historically outpaced most other guaranteed-return instruments.
The trade-off is liquidity: PPF has a 15-year lock-in (extendable in blocks of 5 years), with only limited partial withdrawals permitted before that, making it suited to genuinely long-term goals like retirement or a child's higher education, not money you might need access to in the near term.
EEE tax status: what makes PPF unusual
PPF is one of very few EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) instruments available in India:
- Exempt on contribution — deposits qualify for deduction under Section 80C, up to the overall 80C limit.
- Exempt on interest — the interest credited every year is entirely tax-free, with no annual tax liability on the growing balance.
- Exempt on maturity — the full maturity amount, including all accumulated interest, is tax-free when withdrawn.
Compare this to a fixed deposit, where interest is fully taxable as per your income slab every year it's credited — for someone in a high tax bracket, this difference alone can make PPF's effective post-tax return meaningfully higher than a headline-equivalent FD rate.
How PPF interest is actually calculated
This calculator assumes the standard simplified convention: the full annual deposit is made at the start of the financial year, and the balance compounds once annually at the PPF rate:
Balance(year) = [Balance(year−1) + Annual Deposit] × (1+rate)
In practice, the government calculates real PPF interest monthly, based on the lowest balance between the 5th and the last day of each month, then credits the full year's accumulated interest to your account at the end of the financial year. This means timing matters: depositing before the 5th of the month earns that month's interest; depositing after the 5th means that month is effectively skipped for interest purposes.
Two savers each deposit ₹1,50,000 in April. One deposits on April 4th (before the 5th) and earns interest for the full 12 months of the financial year. The other deposits on April 6th (just after the 5th) and earns interest for only 11 months — a small but entirely avoidable gap costing roughly ₹800–900 in interest for that single year, simply from a two-day difference in timing.
A worked example, step by step
Depositing the maximum ₹1,50,000 per year for the full 15-year tenure at 7.1%:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual deposit | ₹1,50,000 |
| Tenure | 15 years |
| Total invested | ₹22,50,000 |
| Maturity value | ₹40,68,209 (approx.) |
| Total interest earned (tax-free) | ₹18,18,209 (approx.) |
Over 15 years, the interest earned (₹18.18 lakh) is nearly as large as the total amount deposited (₹22.5 lakh) — and every rupee of it arrives completely tax-free, which is the central appeal of the EEE structure.
Key PPF rules and limits to know
- Contribution limits — minimum ₹500, maximum ₹1,50,000 per financial year, in up to 12 instalments or as a lump sum.
- Lock-in — 15 years from account opening, extendable thereafter in blocks of 5 years, with or without further contributions.
- Partial withdrawal — permitted from the 7th financial year onward, capped at a formula based on the balance at specific earlier points.
- Loans against PPF — available from the 3rd to 6th year, up to 25% of the balance at the end of the 2nd preceding year.
- One account per person — (excluding a separate account you may operate on behalf of a minor child).
PPF vs FD vs ELSS: where it fits
PPF
- Sovereign guarantee, zero credit risk
- Fully tax-free at every stage (EEE)
- 15-year lock-in, limited early liquidity
Fixed Deposit (FD)
- Bank credit risk (within deposit insurance limits)
- Interest fully taxable at your income slab
- Far more flexible tenure, typically 7 days to 10 years
PPF and ELSS (tax-saving mutual funds) both fall under Section 80C, but serve different purposes — ELSS offers market-linked, potentially higher returns with a much shorter 3-year lock-in but no guarantee, while PPF offers a guaranteed, government-backed return with a much longer lock-in. Many financial plans use both, rather than choosing one exclusively.
Common PPF mistakes to avoid
- Depositing after the 5th of the month. Missing this date, even by a day or two, costs a full month's interest on that deposit for the year.
- Forgetting the ₹1,50,000 annual ceiling. Deposits beyond this limit in a financial year don't earn interest and may need to be withdrawn.
- Treating PPF as a short-term savings option. The 15-year lock-in makes it unsuitable for goals less than a decade away.
- Letting the account go inactive. Failing to deposit the minimum ₹500 in any financial year makes the account inactive, requiring a penalty payment plus the missed minimum deposits to reactivate it.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your planned annual deposit (up to the ₹1,50,000 maximum).
- Confirm the current PPF interest rate — 7.1% as of the latest quarter, though this is revised by the government periodically.
- Set the duration — minimum 15 years, or longer if you plan to extend.
- Read the maturity value and the year-by-year balance growth.
- Remember to deposit before the 5th of the month each time, to avoid losing that month's interest.
Frequently asked questions
7.1% per annum, for the April-June 2026 quarter - this rate has remained unchanged since April 2020 across many consecutive quarterly reviews. The Government of India revises the PPF rate quarterly, so always check the latest announced rate before relying on a specific figure for long-term planning.
PPF interest is calculated monthly based on the lowest balance in your account between the 5th and the last day of that month. Depositing on or before the 5th means your deposit counts toward that month's interest calculation; depositing on the 6th or later means you miss interest on that deposit for the entire month, even though you've technically already made the deposit.
No, you can hold only one PPF account in your own name (a separate account can be opened on behalf of a minor child, subject to combined contribution limits across both accounts not exceeding the annual ceiling). Knowingly operating multiple accounts in your own name is against PPF rules.
Your account becomes inactive (sometimes called dormant). Reactivating it requires paying a penalty (typically ₹50 per inactive year) plus depositing the minimum ₹500 for each year the account was inactive, before you can resume normal operations.
Partial withdrawals are permitted starting from the 7th financial year, subject to a formula-based cap. Full withdrawal (account closure) is only available after the complete 15-year tenure, except in specific circumstances like the account holder's death or certain medical emergencies that allow earlier premature closure.
They serve different purposes within the same Section 80C limit. PPF offers a guaranteed, government-backed return with a 15-year lock-in. ELSS offers potentially higher, market-linked returns with a much shorter 3-year lock-in, but no guarantee and the possibility of negative returns over short periods. Many financial plans use both - PPF for guaranteed long-term savings, ELSS for market-linked growth within a shorter horizon.