Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Calculator

A daughter's account that compounds for twenty-one years

Deposit ₹1,50,000 a year at the current 8.2% and a Sukanya Samriddhi account matures at ₹71,82,119. You will have paid in ₹22,50,000 across fifteen years; the remaining ₹49,32,119 is interest, entirely tax-free.

The reason the multiple is so large is structural. Deposits run for fifteen years, but the account matures at twenty-one. For the final six years nothing is contributed and the whole balance simply compounds — which is when the largest absolute gains occur. Those six silent years contribute roughly ₹30 lakh of the final figure.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is a government small-savings scheme for girls, opened by a parent or guardian for a daughter under ten. It carries a sovereign guarantee, EEE tax status, and has consistently paid the highest rate of any small-savings scheme — currently 0.5 to 1.1 percentage points above PPF.

How it works

The account can be opened at any post office or authorised bank, for a girl below the age of ten. A family may open accounts for a maximum of two daughters, with an exception for twins or triplets.

Deposits: minimum ₹250 a year, maximum ₹1,50,000 a year across all SSY accounts, payable for fifteen years from opening.

Maturity: twenty-one years from opening, or on the girl's marriage after she turns eighteen, whichever is earlier.

Interest is notified quarterly by the Finance Ministry and compounds annually, on a balance that grows by each year's deposit during the deposit phase and then purely by compounding:

Balance = (previous balance + deposit) × (1 + r), for years 1–15 Balance = previous balance × (1 + r), for years 16–21

Withdrawal and closure

The lock-in is long but not absolute.

Partial withdrawal of up to 50% of the balance at the end of the preceding financial year is permitted once the girl turns eighteen or passes class ten, specifically for higher education, against proof of admission.

Premature closure is allowed after five years in defined circumstances — the death of the account holder, a life-threatening illness, or the death of the guardian — and after the girl turns eighteen on account of marriage.

Otherwise the money stays until maturity, which for a girl aged two at opening means age twenty-three.

Reading your projection

The maturity figure assumes today's 8.2% holds for twenty-one years, which it will not. Small-savings rates are reviewed quarterly and have drifted downward over the past decade. Re-run at 7.5% to see a realistic downside — the difference across twenty-one years is several lakh.

The rate advantage over PPF is the main reason to prefer SSY where you are eligible, and it is genuine: both are EEE and sovereign-backed, but SSY has consistently paid more. The trade is flexibility — PPF matures in fifteen years and can be extended or accessed more readily, while SSY is tied to a specific child and a specific timeline.

Note that the ₹1,50,000 annual limit is shared across all SSY accounts you operate, and the Section 80C deduction for those deposits shares the same ₹1,50,000 ceiling with EPF, PPF, insurance premiums and everything else under 80C — and is unavailable entirely under the new tax regime.

Common mistakes

Opening after the daughter turns ten. The eligibility window closes on her tenth birthday, with no exceptions.

Assuming deposits run the full twenty-one years. They stop at fifteen. Many parents budget for six years of contributions that are neither required nor permitted.

Missing the ₹250 annual minimum. The account becomes dormant and requires a ₹50 penalty per defaulted year to revive.

Depositing late in the year. Interest is calculated on the lowest balance between the fifth and the last day of each month, so funding early in April captures a full year's interest.

Treating it as accessible savings. It is not an emergency fund; withdrawal before the girl turns eighteen is essentially impossible.

Opening accounts for three daughters. The limit is two per family, apart from the multiple-birth exception.