PPF Calculator
The Public Provident Fund (PPF) is a 15-year government-backed savings scheme with a quarterly-revised, tax-free interest rate. This calculator projects your maturity value assuming a deposit made at the start of each year.
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What is the PPF Calculator?
The Public Provident Fund (PPF) is a long-term, government-backed savings scheme in India with a 15-year lock-in. It's prized for its safety and its EEE tax status — your deposits, the interest earned, and the maturity amount are all completely tax-free. The interest rate is set by the Ministry of Finance and revised every quarter.
You can deposit between ₹500 and ₹1.5 lakh per financial year, and the account can be extended in 5-year blocks after maturity.
How to Calculate
PPF interest compounds annually on your running balance. For each year the calculation is:
- Add that year's deposit to the existing balance.
- Multiply by
(1 + rate)to add the year's interest. - Carry the new balance forward and repeat for all 15 years.
In practice, monthly interest is computed on the lowest balance between the 5th and last day of the month, which is why depositing before the 5th earns that month's interest. The calculator uses the standard start-of-year assumption and shows the full year-by-year balance.
Formula
PPF compounds annually. For each year: balance = (balance + yearly deposit) × (1 + rate)
In practice, interest is computed monthly on the lowest balance between the 5th and last day of the month, then credited once at year-end — depositing before the 5th of the month earns that month's interest. This calculator uses the standard simplifying assumption (deposit at the start of the financial year) that Groww and ClearTax's calculators also use, since it matches the best-case, full-year-interest scenario.
Worked Examples
Example 1 u2014 Maximum yearly deposit
₹1,50,000/year for 15 years at 7.1%: invested ₹22.5 lakh, maturity ≈ ₹40.68 lakh — all of it tax-free.
Example 2 u2014 A smaller, steady deposit
₹50,000/year for 15 years at 7.1% matures at roughly ₹13.56 lakh, on ₹7.5 lakh invested.
Example 3 u2014 Extending beyond 15 years
Continuing ₹1,50,000/year for a further 5-year block (20 years total) pushes the maturity above ₹66 lakh, as the larger balance keeps compounding.
Definitions
- Yearly Deposit
- The amount you contribute each financial year. PPF allows between ₹500 and ₹1,50,000 per year.
- Tenure
- PPF has a 15-year lock-in, extendable in blocks of 5 years after maturity.
- PPF Interest Rate
- Set by the Ministry of Finance and revised quarterly. Interest is compounded annually and is tax-free.
- Maturity Value
- Your total deposits plus all accumulated tax-free interest at the end of the tenure.
PPF Loan & Withdrawal Rules
- Loans: available from the 3rd to the 6th financial year, up to 25% of the balance at the end of the second preceding year.
- Partial withdrawal: allowed from the 7th financial year onward, once per year, subject to limits.
- Premature closure: permitted after 5 years only in specific cases — serious illness, higher education, or a change in residency status — with a small interest-rate penalty.
- After maturity: extend in 5-year blocks (with or without fresh contributions) and keep earning tax-free interest, or withdraw the full amount.
How to Use
- Enter your planned yearly deposit (maximum ₹1,50,000 per financial year).
- Confirm the tenure u2014 PPF has a mandatory 15-year lock-in, extendable in blocks of 5 years after maturity.
- Check the current PPF interest rate (set quarterly by the Ministry of Finance) and update it if it has changed.
- Read your projected maturity value and total interest earned.