PPF Calculator — Public Provident Fund Maturity Value at 7.1%

How to use the PPF calculator

1. Enter your Yearly deposit, between ₹500 and ₹1,50,000.
2. Check the Interest rate. It starts at 7.1%, the government rate for 1 October to 31 December 2026. Change it to test other rates.
3. Set the Term: 15 years, or 20, 25 and so on if you plan to extend.
4. Choose when the Deposit made: By 5 April (start of year) or In March (end of year).
5. Read the maturity value, total deposited and total interest. The chart shows how deposits and interest build up, and the year-wise table can be downloaded as a CSV file.

What it does and when to use it

The Public Provident Fund is a long-term government savings scheme in India. You put money in each year, the government sets the interest rate every quarter, and the account runs for at least 15 years. Because the term is long, small choices about how much and when you deposit make a large difference by the end.

Use the calculator to:

• See what a yearly deposit could grow to by maturity.
• Decide whether to extend after 15 years, by comparing 15, 20 and 25-year terms.
• See the cost of depositing late in the financial year.
• Compare PPF with other options such as the Sukanya Samriddhi Calculator for a daughter’s account, a bank FD Calculator, or a market-linked SIP Calculator.

PPF rules used by the calculator

The memorandum for October to December 2026 kept all small savings rates the same as the previous quarter, which had itself been unchanged from the quarters before it. That stability is not a promise about future quarters.

How it works

The calculator treats each year as one step:

• Start-of-year deposit: interest = (opening balance + this year’s deposit) × rate ÷ 100
• End-of-year deposit: interest = opening balance × rate ÷ 100, and the deposit is added after interest
• Closing balance = opening balance + deposit + interest

Interest is added once a year, as the scheme credits it. Depositing by 5 April gives the same result as earning interest on that money for every month of the year, which is why the “start of year” option matches the scheme’s monthly rule. The total interest is the final balance minus everything you deposited. All of this runs in your browser.

Worked examples

These results come from the calculator at 7.1%.

1. The maximum deposit, made by 5 April, for 15 years. ₹1,50,000 a year adds up to ₹22,50,000 of deposits. The Maturity value (tax-free): ₹40,68,209.22, so ₹18,18,209.22 is interest. In year 1 the interest is ₹10,650. In year 15 it is ₹2,69,694.54, more than a whole year’s deposit.

2. The same deposits made in March instead. Each year’s deposit misses that year’s interest. The Maturity value (tax-free): ₹37,98,514.68, which is ₹2,69,694.54 less than example 1. The deposits are the same; only the timing changed.

3. ₹1 lakh a year with one 5-year extension. Over 20 years you deposit ₹20,00,000. After 15 years the balance is ₹27,12,139.48, and after the extension the Maturity value (tax-free): ₹44,38,858.78. The last five years add ₹17,26,719.30, of which only ₹5,00,000 is new deposits; the rest is interest on a balance that is now large.

4. ₹5,000 a month, saved as ₹60,000 a year, for 25 years. You deposit ₹15,00,000 in total. The maturity value is ₹41,23,205.99 and the Total interest: ₹26,23,205.99, well over half of the final balance.

What the examples show

• Timing is worth real money. Paying in by 5 April each year, rather than in March, made a difference of more than ₹2.6 lakh in example 2. If you pay monthly, pay before the 5th so that month’s deposit counts.
• The later years matter most. Interest builds on interest, so the balance grows fastest near the end. That is why extending a PPF account can add more than the first 15 years did.
• The limit caps the upside. At ₹1,50,000 a year you cannot put more in, so the main levers are the deposit timing and how long you keep the account open.

Limits and tips

• One rate for the whole term. The real rate is set each quarter. Run the calculator again at a lower rate, say 6.5%, to see a cautious figure.
• Same deposit each year. If your deposits vary, the result is only a guide. A Compound Interest Calculator can help for a single lump sum.
• Extensions with deposits. The calculator assumes you keep depositing the same amount during any extension. Check the scheme rules, or ask your bank or post office, about what is allowed during an extension.
• Withdrawals and loans are not modelled. The calculator assumes nothing is taken out before maturity. Read the PPF Scheme, 2019 at the National Savings Institute for the rules on taking money out early.
• Tax. Deposits count towards the ₹1,50,000 section 123 limit in the old regime. This page does not cover the tax treatment of interest or maturity.
• Inflation. ₹40 lakh in 15 years will buy less than ₹40 lakh today. The Inflation Calculator shows what a future amount is worth in today’s money.