PPF Calculator
The Public Provident Fund is India's beloved tax-free savings machine — government-backed, EEE tax status, and a 15-year horizon that forces patience. See what your yearly deposit becomes.
Your inputs
Growth over time
Where the money came from
Year-by-year breakdown
| Year | Deposits | Interest earned | End balance |
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What is PPF?
The Public Provident Fund is a voluntary, government-backed savings scheme open to every resident Indian — salaried or not, which is exactly why it pairs so well with EPF (which only covers the organised sector). You can deposit between ₹500 and ₹1,50,000 per financial year, and the account matures 15 years after the end of the financial year in which you opened it. After maturity you may extend in five-year blocks, with or without fresh deposits.
PPF's superpower is its EEE tax status: deposits qualify for deduction under Section 80C (if you use the old tax regime), the interest is tax-free, and the maturity proceeds are tax-free. The interest rate is set by the Finance Ministry every quarter — it's been 7.1% since early 2024, including the October–December 2026 quarter, and is credited once a year.
The math behind this calculator
PPF interest is calculated on the lowest balance between the 5th and the last day of each month — so money deposited before April 5th earns interest for the full year. This calculator assumes your yearly deposit lands at the start of the financial year (the optimal case) and compounds annually:
where r = annual PPF rate. Deposits are capped at ₹1,50,000 per year.
Worked example
Deposit the maximum ₹1,50,000 every year for 15 years at 7.1%. You put in ₹22.5 lakh total, and the account matures at roughly ₹40.7 lakh — about ₹18.2 lakh of it interest, all tax-free. Extend another 5 years with fresh deposits and the corpus crosses ₹66 lakh; extend without deposits and the existing balance keeps compounding on its own.
Caveats worth knowing
- The rate resets every quarter. 7.1% has held for ten straight quarters, but the government can cut it. If you want a conservative projection, try 6.5%.
- No 80C deduction in the new tax regime. The EEE benefit's first "E" (deduction) only exists under the old regime — though interest and maturity stay tax-free either way.
- Your money is locked up. Premature closure is permitted only in narrow cases (like medical emergencies or higher education) after five years, with a 1% interest penalty. Partial withdrawals have their own schedule from year 7.
- One account per person. You can't open a second PPF account to dodge the ₹1.5 lakh cap — deposits above the cap earn no interest.
- Inflation is the silent partner. At 7.1% nominal with ~5-6% inflation, the real return is thin — PPF is safety and tax efficiency, not wealth creation.
Sources: Jagran Josh — small savings rates Oct–Dec 2026; Angel One — small savings rates announcement; BusinessWonder — PPF rules 2026.