Compare PPF scenarios
Change one input, hold everything else identical, and see how much that one input is actually worth. The gap between the scenarios is the whole answer.
What to compare
Everything else below is held identical across the scenarios, so the only thing separating the lines is this one input.
Shared by every scenario
The scheme allows ₹500 to ₹1,50,000 in a financial year, across all your own accounts.
The government sets this rate and has revised it many times, so it is yours to assume rather than a fixed feature of the scheme.
A lump sum early in the year earns for all twelve months; instalments earn from the month each one lands.
Interest for a month is calculated on the lowest balance between the close of the 5th and the end of the month.
Side by side
| Scenario | How long you keep it | Balance at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Scenario A | 15 years (maturity) | ₹40,68,209 |
| Scenario B | 20 years (one extension) | ₹66,58,288 |
| Scenario C | 25 years (two extensions) | ₹1,03,08,015 |
| Scenario D | 30 years (three extensions) | ₹1,54,50,911 |
Moving how long you keep it from 15 years (maturity) to 30 years (three extensions) changes balance at the end by +₹1,13,82,701. Every other input was identical in both.
Show how each scenario is calculatedHide the working
Scenario A — 15 years (maturity)
Interest accrues each month on the lowest balance between the close of the 5th and the end of the month, and is credited once at the end of the year. The first year is shown in full; every later year repeats it on the balance carried forward.
Monthly rate, as a decimal
7.1% ÷ 100 ÷ 12
= 0.005917
One deposit of ₹1,50,000, earning for 12 months
₹1,50,000 × 0.005917 × 12
= ₹10,650
Each deposit lands by the 5th, so it counts in that month’s lowest balance.
Balance at the end of year one
₹1,50,000 + ₹10,650
= ₹1,60,650
Interest is credited once, at the year end. Nothing compounds inside the year.
Deposited over 15 years
₹1,50,000 × 15
= ₹22,50,000
Balance at the end
₹22,50,000 + interest credited each year
= ₹40,68,209
Scenario B — 20 years (one extension)
Interest accrues each month on the lowest balance between the close of the 5th and the end of the month, and is credited once at the end of the year. The first year is shown in full; every later year repeats it on the balance carried forward.
Monthly rate, as a decimal
7.1% ÷ 100 ÷ 12
= 0.005917
One deposit of ₹1,50,000, earning for 12 months
₹1,50,000 × 0.005917 × 12
= ₹10,650
Each deposit lands by the 5th, so it counts in that month’s lowest balance.
Balance at the end of year one
₹1,50,000 + ₹10,650
= ₹1,60,650
Interest is credited once, at the year end. Nothing compounds inside the year.
Deposited over 20 years
₹1,50,000 × 20
= ₹30,00,000
Balance at the end
₹30,00,000 + interest credited each year
= ₹66,58,288
Scenario C — 25 years (two extensions)
Interest accrues each month on the lowest balance between the close of the 5th and the end of the month, and is credited once at the end of the year. The first year is shown in full; every later year repeats it on the balance carried forward.
Monthly rate, as a decimal
7.1% ÷ 100 ÷ 12
= 0.005917
One deposit of ₹1,50,000, earning for 12 months
₹1,50,000 × 0.005917 × 12
= ₹10,650
Each deposit lands by the 5th, so it counts in that month’s lowest balance.
Balance at the end of year one
₹1,50,000 + ₹10,650
= ₹1,60,650
Interest is credited once, at the year end. Nothing compounds inside the year.
Deposited over 25 years
₹1,50,000 × 25
= ₹37,50,000
Balance at the end
₹37,50,000 + interest credited each year
= ₹1,03,08,015
Scenario D — 30 years (three extensions)
Interest accrues each month on the lowest balance between the close of the 5th and the end of the month, and is credited once at the end of the year. The first year is shown in full; every later year repeats it on the balance carried forward.
Monthly rate, as a decimal
7.1% ÷ 100 ÷ 12
= 0.005917
One deposit of ₹1,50,000, earning for 12 months
₹1,50,000 × 0.005917 × 12
= ₹10,650
Each deposit lands by the 5th, so it counts in that month’s lowest balance.
Balance at the end of year one
₹1,50,000 + ₹10,650
= ₹1,60,650
Interest is credited once, at the year end. Nothing compounds inside the year.
Deposited over 30 years
₹1,50,000 × 30
= ₹45,00,000
Balance at the end
₹45,00,000 + interest credited each year
= ₹1,54,50,911
Every scenario is computed by the same engine the balance at the end calculator uses, so the last line of each is the figure in the table above. Intermediate values are shown rounded for reading; the calculation carries full precision throughout.
Over time
Each line is one scenario. Because every other input is identical, the gap between them is the effect of how long you keep it alone.
How to read this
- Only one input differs. Every other value is identical across the scenarios, which is what makes the gap between them readable. If each scenario had its own assumed return, the chart would be comparing guesses rather than choices.
- A bigger number is not automatically better. On a loan comparison the larger figure is the worse one, and on any of these the right answer depends on circumstances this page knows nothing about.
- The rate is still an assumption. Comparing scenarios does not make any of them a forecast — it only shows how sensitive the outcome is to the input you changed.
To see the arithmetic behind a single scenario, use the PPF Calculator, which shows the formula and works it through with your numbers.