PPF Growth
What your yearly PPF deposits grow into, every rupee of it tax-free — with a year-wise ledger and the deposit-before-the-5th trick that maximises the interest you're credited.
Project your PPF balance live · nothing leaves the page
§1How PPF interest works
PPF interest is computed monthly but credited once a year, on 31 March. Each month, you earn interest on the lowest balance between the 5th and the month-end — so a deposit made on the 6th earns nothing that whole month:
Deposit your full year's amount before 5 April and every month of the year counts, which is the assumption this calculator makes — each year: balance = (balance + deposit) × (1 + r/100).
Nearly ₹18.2 lakh of interest, and not one rupee of it is taxed — not on accrual, not at maturity. No bank FD can say that.
§2The gotchas
PPF is exempt-exempt-exempt: the deposit qualifies for the 80C deduction, the interest is tax-free, and the maturity amount is tax-free. For someone in the 30% slab, a taxable instrument would need to pay over 10% pre-tax to match PPF's 7.1% in hand. Compare it against post-tax FD returns, not headline FD rates.
The government resets the PPF rate every quarter. It has ranged from 12% in the 1990s down to today's 7.1%, and your entire balance — not just new deposits — earns whatever the current rate is. A 15-year projection at a fixed 7.1% is a planning estimate, not a contract.
You can deposit at most ₹1.5 lakh per financial year across your own and minor-child accounts combined — excess deposits earn no interest and are refunded. And you must deposit at least ₹500 a year or the account goes dormant, with a ₹50-per-year penalty to revive it.
The 15-year lock-in runs from the end of the financial year you opened the account — open in June 2026 and maturity is 1 April 2042. After maturity you can extend in 5-year blocks, either with fresh deposits (elect within a year, via Form H) or without — the balance keeps compounding tax-free either way, which makes an extended PPF a superb retirement annuity.
§3Related
Want higher expected returns and can stomach market risk? See the SIP calculator. Need the money sooner than 15 years? Compare the fixed deposit calculator.