Deposits and government scheme calculators
Fixed deposits and small savings schemes are still where most Indian families keep their safest money. The catch is that each scheme compounds differently: PPF credits interest once a year, bank FDs compound quarterly, RDs compound quarterly on monthly deposits, and the Monthly Income Scheme pays out instead of compounding at all. A generic compound-interest calculator gets these wrong.
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All deposits & govt schemes tools
Each calculator here follows the official rule for its scheme, and the interest rates are reviewed every quarter when the Finance Ministry announces them. The current rates are shown on each page with the date they were last checked.
Choosing between them
For long-term, tax-free saving under the old regime, PPF and Sukanya Samriddhi are hard to beat. Senior citizens get the highest guaranteed rate from SCSS. For money you may need within a few years, an FD or RD is more flexible. After tax, the gap between a bank FD and a tax-free scheme is large for anyone in the 20% or 30% slab; our FD vs PPF vs debt fund guide shows the numbers slab by slab.
Rates and rules last reviewed 27 September 2026 by Viraj Sarfare.
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