FD Calculator — Calculate Fixed Deposit Returns Instantly — India 2026

Fixed Deposit Calculator

Understanding Your Investment Returns

This calculator projects your returns using compound interest, where your earnings generate their own earnings over time. The power of compounding means that even small regular investments can grow into substantial wealth over long periods. For example, investing just Rs 5,000 per month at 12% expected returns for 25 years can grow to over Rs 1 crore — of which only Rs 15 lakh is your own money and Rs 85 lakh is compounding returns. The key factors that determine your final corpus are: the amount invested, the rate of return, the duration of investment, and the frequency of compounding.

Important Considerations

Past returns do not guarantee future performance, especially for market-linked instruments like mutual funds and equities. The returns shown are estimates based on the rate you enter. Equity investments carry market risk but have historically delivered 12-15% CAGR over 15+ year periods in India. Fixed income options like PPF (7.1%) and FD (6-7.5%) offer lower but more predictable returns. Diversifying across asset classes — equity, debt, gold, and real estate — reduces overall portfolio risk while optimizing returns for your risk tolerance.

FD Interest Rates 2026 — SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Post Office Compared

As of mid-2026, the largest banks — SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank — offer general-public FD rates of roughly 6.5–7.5% p.a. on 1–5 year tenors, with the highest slabs typically parked on 2–3 year 'special' tenors. Post Office Time Deposits pay about 6.9–7.5%: the 1-year TD sits near the bottom of that band and the 5-year TD (which also qualifies for Section 80C deduction up to Rs 1.5 lakh) near the top. Small finance banks such as AU, Ujjivan, Equitas and Jana routinely pay 7.5–8.5% to attract deposits — a premium of roughly 100 basis points over the large banks. Two caveats. First, all of these rates are revised periodically: banks reprice FDs whenever the RBI moves the repo rate, and post office rates are reset quarterly by the Ministry of Finance, so confirm the live card rate before booking. Second, deposit insurance: DICGC covers Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank (principal plus interest), and that cover applies equally to small finance banks — so their higher rates carry no extra insured risk up to the limit. The spread is material: on Rs 5 lakh over 3 years, the gap between 6.5% and 8.5% compounded quarterly works out to roughly Rs 36,800 in maturity value.

Senior Citizen FD Rates — The Extra 0.50%

Nearly every Indian bank pays depositors aged 60 and above a premium over card rates — typically +0.50%, with the full range running +0.25% to +0.75% depending on bank and tenor; several banks run special senior schemes on select tenors at the top of that band. So where the general public earns 7.0%, a senior typically earns 7.5% — on a Rs 10 lakh deposit that is Rs 75,000 a year in interest versus Rs 70,000. Before defaulting to a bank FD, seniors should benchmark the Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme (SCSS): 8.2% p.a. for the April–June 2026 quarter, paid out quarterly, on up to Rs 30 lakh per individual — typically 0.2–1.2 percentage points above bank senior FD rates, though the rate for new SCSS accounts resets each quarter. On tax: TDS on FD interest under Section 194A applied above Rs 50,000 a year for seniors until FY 2024-25; Budget 2025 doubled that threshold to Rs 1 lakh from FY 2025-26. Separately, Section 80TTB lets resident seniors deduct up to Rs 50,000 of deposit interest from taxable income under the old regime. Use the senior-citizen FD calculator to model exactly what the +0.50% differential compounds to over 5 years.

FD Interest Calculation — Simple vs Compound, Cumulative vs Payout

Most banks follow the IBA convention of simple interest on FDs below six months and compound interest — almost always quarterly — on longer tenors, and the difference is material. Rs 1 lakh at 7% simple interest earns Rs 35,000 over 5 years. The same deposit compounded quarterly grows to 1,00,000 × (1 + 0.07/4)^20 ≈ Rs 1,41,478 — interest of Rs 41,478, about Rs 6,478 more, because each quarter's interest itself starts earning. Quarterly compounding lifts the effective annual yield to about 7.19%, not 7%. That worked example assumes a cumulative FD, where interest is reinvested and paid at maturity. In a non-cumulative (payout) FD you receive interest as income — Rs 1,750 per quarter on Rs 1 lakh at 7% — but forgo compounding entirely, so total receipts are Rs 35,000 over 5 years. Monthly-payout FDs pay at a slightly discounted rate because interest reaches you before the quarterly compounding date. The rule of thumb: choose cumulative if you don't need the cash flow — the compounding pickup is the entire spread between Rs 35,000 and Rs 41,478. Our FD calculator lets you toggle compounding frequency (monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, annual) and payout mode to see both figures for your exact amount, rate and tenor.