RatesSmall Savings
Government small-savings scheme rates as notified for the current quarter (as of 2026-07-30). The Ministry of Finance revises these every quarter.
Maintained by lemmatools Editorial Team · Last updated:
Indicative rates. These figures are maintained manually and may lag the banks’ latest revisions — always confirm on the official source or the bank’s website before making a deposit or loan decision.
| Scheme | Rate | Compounding | Term | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) | 8.2% | Annual | 21 years (deposits 15) | EEE + 80C |
| Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme (SCSS) | 8.2% | Quarterly payout | 5 years (+3 ext.) | 80C; interest taxable |
| National Savings Certificate (NSC) | 7.7% | Annual, at maturity | 5 years | 80C incl. accrued interest |
| Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) | 7.5% | Annual (doubles in 115 months) | 115 months | None; interest taxable |
| Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (MIS) | 7.4% | Monthly payout | 5 years | None; interest taxable |
| Public Provident Fund (PPF) | 7.1% | Annual | 15 years (extendable) | EEE + 80C |
| Post Office 5-year RD | 6.7% | Quarterly | 5 years | None; interest taxable |
| Post Office Time Deposit (1 year) | 6.9% | Quarterly | 1 year | None |
| Post Office Time Deposit (5 years) | 7.5% | Quarterly | 5 years | 80C on 5-yr TD |
Reading the ladder
The pattern in the table is deliberate policy: schemes serving daughters (SSY) and senior citizens (SCSS) sit at the top of the rate ladder, general-purpose certificates (NSC, KVP) in the middle, and liquid instruments at the bottom. Because all of these are sovereign-backed, the differences are pure yield — there is no credit-risk excuse for holding a lower-paying scheme that doesn’t fit your goal.
Tax treatment changes the ranking more than the headline rate: tax-free PPF at 7.1% beats taxable NSC at 7.7% for anyone above the 20% slab. Every scheme name links to its calculator, where the current rate is pre-filled and the after-tax picture is spelled out.