PPF Explained: Contributions, Interest, Tenure and Maturity

PPF is a Government savings scheme with defined account rules

The Public Provident Fund is governed by the Public Provident Fund Scheme, 2019 under the Government Savings Promotion framework. Its contribution limits, interest treatment, maturity and continuation options come from the applicable scheme and Government notifications, rather than from the calculator.

The ArthaSiddhi PPF Calculator is an educational projection tool. It applies the contribution, assumed rate and whole-year tenure entered by the user; it does not decide whether an account action complies with the scheme.

Annual contributions have a verified minimum and maximum

Under the verified scheme, a deposit of at least ₹500 and no more than ₹1,50,000 may be made in an account in a financial year, in multiples of ₹50. The ₹1,50,000 individual limit includes deposits in the person's own account and an account opened on behalf of a minor.

Subject to those limits, deposits may be made in one lump sum or in instalments. The calculator simplifies that flexibility into one fixed annual contribution made at the beginning of every modeled year.

The notified rate and deposit dates both matter

PPF interest is governed by the rate applicable to the scheme, and Government-notified rates can change. The calculator does not retrieve notifications or build a rate history; it repeats the single assumed annual rate entered by the user across the full projection.

Actual scheme interest eligibility uses the lowest balance at credit between the close of the fifth day and the end of each month. Interest is credited at the end of the year. This monthly eligible-balance rule is different from the calculator's one-contribution-at-the-beginning-of-each-year convention.

Read how PPF interest and contribution timing are separated for the calculation mechanics.

Maturity is measured from the end of the opening financial year

The scheme permits closure after the expiry of 15 years from the end of the financial year in which the account was opened. That wording matters: it is not simply a generic 15-year period counted from any date entered into a calculator.

After maturity, the scheme provides for retaining the account without further deposits or extending it with deposits in five-year blocks, subject to the applicable conditions and option timing.

The tenure and extension guide explains those choices without treating a calculator tenure as an extension election.

Illustrative projection: ₹1,50,000 a year for 15 years

Suppose the calculator receives an annual contribution of ₹1,50,000, an assumed annual rate of 7.1% and a 15-year tenure. It adds the contribution at the beginning of each modeled year and applies the same rate annually.

Read the result as a scenario, not a promised account value

The ₹22,50,000 contribution total follows from 15 equal annual additions. The estimated interest and maturity depend on the calculator's beginning-of-year timing and illustrative constant rate.

The 7.1% input is not a claim that the same rate will apply for 15 years. Actual notified rates can change, actual deposit dates affect eligible balances, and account events are outside this projection. The ₹40,68,209 figure is therefore illustrative, not a guaranteed maturity value.

See why the projection and eventual account value can differ, or change one assumption in the PPF Calculator.