PPF Calculator

The Public Provident Fund is defined more by its rules than by its rate. A contribution ceiling, a fifteen-year lock-in, and a rate the government resets every quarter shape the outcome far more than any choice you make. This calculator enforces the first two and holds the third constant, which is where its main weakness lies.

The full-contribution case

Pay the statutory maximum of 1,50,000 at the start of each financial year for fifteen years at 7.1%:

• Total contributed: 22,50,000
• Maturity amount: 40,68,209.22
• Interest earned: 18,18,209.22

Interest is 44.7% of the maturity value. Contribute a third of that — 50,000 a year — and fifteen years produces 13,56,069.74 on 7,50,000 paid in, the same proportions on a smaller base, because the scheme is linear in contribution.

What the account rules force

Two inputs are constrained rather than free, and the tool refuses them rather than quietly producing a number:

• Enter more than 1,50,000 a year and you get an error. The cap is statutory and covers all PPF accounts you hold, including one opened in a minor's name where you are the guardian.
• Enter fewer than 15 years and you get an error. The account matures at the end of the fifteenth financial year and cannot be closed at will before then. Extensions are permitted afterwards in blocks of five years.

Amounts are shown in rupees regardless of the site-wide currency selector, because the cap and the rate are defined in rupees and converting them would be meaningless.

The rate assumption is the honest problem

Balance at end of year = (previous balance + contribution) × 1.071

That 7.1% is the notified rate as of Q2 FY 2025-26. The government reviews small savings rates every quarter, and PPF has been revised repeatedly over the life of the scheme. Projecting fifteen or twenty-five years forward at a single frozen rate is a convenience, not a forecast. A rate half a point lower across the whole term would take a visible bite out of the 40 lakh figure above.

Treat the maturity value as an order of magnitude. Your passbook, updated after each annual credit, is the only accurate record.

Where the real advantage sits

Contributions qualify for deduction under Section 80C, the annual interest credit is exempt, and the maturity proceeds are exempt. That exempt-exempt-exempt treatment is worth more than the headline rate suggests, particularly at higher tax slabs — a taxable deposit would need a materially higher gross rate to match it after tax. This page does not compute that comparison for you, and it does not model the deduction, so do not read the maturity figure as a post-tax advantage on its own.

Against that: liquidity is poor by design. Partial withdrawals begin only from the seventh year, and loans against the balance are available in a narrow window with their own conditions. Money you might need is money that does not belong here.

Longer horizons

Running the maximum contribution for 25 years rather than 15 gives 1,03,08,014.97 on 37,50,000 contributed. Ten extra years of the same annual cheque adds over 62 lakh, almost all of it compounding on balances built in the first half.

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For a shorter-term guaranteed deposit, see the FD calculator. For a market-linked alternative with no lock-in, use the SIP calculator. To judge whether the maturity value covers your actual needs, the retirement calculator sizes the target.