PPF Calculator

About PPF Calculator

The Public Provident Fund (PPF) is the Government of India's flagship long-term savings scheme — backed by a sovereign guarantee, fully tax-exempt under the EEE regime, and accessible to every resident Indian with a Post Office or scheduled-bank account. This calculator projects how a yearly contribution between ₹500 and ₹1,50,000 grows over the mandatory 15-year lock-in and any optional 5-year extensions, using the rate currently notified by the Ministry of Finance (default 7.1% — editable for past or projected rates). Because PPF interest is computed on the lowest balance between the 5th and the last day of every month and credited annually on 31 March, the timing of your deposit matters: a single April-5 contribution maximises the yield, which is what this calculator assumes.

Why use PPF Calculator

• Sovereign-Guaranteed EEE Status: Deposit qualifies for §80C deduction (up to ₹1.5L), interest accrues tax-free, and the maturity payout is fully tax-exempt. Among small-savings schemes, only EPF and PPF carry the EEE label — and PPF is open to non-salaried earners too.
• Latest 7.1% Rate Built In: The default rate matches the rate the Ministry of Finance notified for the current quarter. The field is editable, so you can model historical rates (PPF was 8.7% pre-2016) or project lower rates (some analysts expect 6.5%–7.0% over the next decade).
• Full 15+ Year Horizon: PPF has a hard 15-year lock-in, then five-year extension blocks for life. The calculator accepts any year count from 15 to 50, so you can model a working-age investor or a retiree using PPF as a fixed-income sleeve.
• Year-by-Year Compounding Breakdown: The expandable table shows annual deposit, cumulative interest and closing balance for every year. It makes the inflection point — typically around year 10 — visible: the year your interest earned exceeds your deposit.
• Honest About Timing: The calculation assumes a single April-5 deposit, which earns interest for the full year. If you contribute monthly or in late March, real-world maturity will be lower; we say so explicitly so the projection is not optimistic.
• Stays in Your Browser: PPF account numbers and contribution amounts are private. This tool runs entirely in your browser — no server, no analytics on inputs, no data leaves your device.

How to use PPF Calculator

1. Enter the yearly deposit amount you plan to contribute, anywhere from ₹500 to the §80C cap of ₹1,50,000
2. Confirm the current PPF interest rate — defaults to 7.1% (the Q4 FY 2025-26 notified rate); change it for past comparisons or projections
3. Set the duration in years — minimum 15 (mandatory lock-in) or extend in 5-year blocks up to 50 years
4. Read the maturity amount, total deposited and tax-free interest earned in the result cards
5. Click Show year-by-year breakdown to see how your balance grows annually
6. Use the breakdown to identify when interest earned per year overtakes the deposit — usually around year 10–11

When to use PPF Calculator

• When opening a new PPF account and projecting how much you will accumulate by year 15 at the current rate
• When deciding the optimal yearly contribution — should you do ₹1.5L (max §80C) or stretch to multiple family members' accounts
• When planning a child's higher-education corpus 15 years out by opening a minor PPF in their name (combined cap ₹1.5L still applies)
• When comparing PPF to EPF, NPS, ELSS or a Tax-Saving FD as a §80C debt allocation
• When extending an existing PPF account in a 5-year block and projecting whether to deposit further or hold the balance
• When testing the impact of a possible rate cut — change the rate field to 6.5% or 6.0% and see how the corpus shrinks

Examples

Tips

• Deposit by April 5 every year and in a single lump sum to maximise interest — splitting into monthly contributions reduces the corpus by 4–6% over 15 years
• Open a separate PPF account for each child as a parent or guardian — but remember the ₹1.5L combined cap across your own and minors' accounts
• Use PPF as your debt allocation in a long-term portfolio; it is sovereign-backed and tax-free, so the post-tax yield beats almost every comparable debt option
• After year 15 you can extend without further deposits — the existing balance continues to earn the prevailing rate tax-free, which is a clean way to use PPF as a retirement income source
• Avoid premature closure — the 1% penalty plus losing future tax-free compounding rarely makes financial sense unless the funds are truly needed for medical emergencies or higher education
• Track the quarterly rate notification each March, June, September and December — the rate can fall, and a long horizon means the rate-trajectory matters more than the starting rate

Frequently Asked Questions

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Glossary

Public Provident Fund (PPF)

A 15-year, tax-free, government-backed savings scheme under the PPF Scheme, 1968, available to every resident Indian and originally administered by Department of Posts and now by all major scheduled banks.

EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt)

A tax classification meaning all three legs of an investment are tax-exempt: the deposit itself qualifies for a deduction, the periodic returns accrue tax-free, and the maturity payout is fully exempt. PPF, EPF (under most conditions), and Sukanya Samriddhi are India's notable EEE schemes.

Section 80C

Income Tax Act section that permits a deduction of up to ₹1,50,000 from gross total income for specified investments and expenses. PPF, EPF, life insurance premium, ELSS, Tax-Saving FD, principal repayment of home loan, and tuition fees all qualify and share this single ₹1.5L ceiling.

Lock-in Period

The minimum 15 financial years (counted from the end of the year of first deposit) during which the PPF account cannot be closed except in narrowly defined hardship circumstances. After year 15 the account can be extended or withdrawn.

Quarterly Rate Notification

The mechanism by which the Ministry of Finance notifies the PPF rate every three months — April, July, October and January — based on G-Sec yield benchmarks. PPF rate set quarterly by Ministry of Finance, India; applies prospectively to balances during that quarter.

Form H

The form used to extend a PPF account with further deposits after the original 15-year maturity. Must be submitted to the bank or post office within one year of maturity; missing this window converts the account into 'extended without deposits' mode automatically.

Loan Against PPF

Between the start of year 3 and the end of year 6, an account holder may borrow up to 25% of the balance at the end of the second preceding year. Interest is 1% above the prevailing PPF rate; principal must be repaid within 36 months.