ReckonBoxHow the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana calculator works
A Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana calculator projects a girl child's SSY account to maturity: it takes your deposit and the interest rate, deposits for 15 years, then compounds the balance to the 21-year maturity. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is a government savings scheme for a girl child, and it pays 8.2% a year for the October to December 2026 quarter, compounded annually, which is higher than PPF's 7.1%. The account is opened before the girl turns 10, and this tool shows the maturity value, the interest, and the tax saved.
The default numbers show why the scheme is generous. Depositing the full ₹1,50,000 a year for 15 years at 8.2% grows to about ₹71.82 lakh by the 21-year maturity, on ₹22.5 lakh deposited. The other ₹49.3 lakh is interest, and all of it is tax-free.
The two phases: 15 years in, 21 years to mature
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana has a deposit phase of 15 years and a maturity of 21 years, so for the final 6 years the balance earns interest with no new deposits. You pay for 15, then the accumulated balance simply compounds for another 6.
That distinction is still getting lost. Two of the calculators ranking for this term describe the deposit period as 14 years with contributions "optional" in years 15 to 21, which is wrong twice: the period is 15 years, and deposits after it are not optional but impossible. Fourteen deposit years instead of fifteen understates the default case by ₹2,60,424, giving ₹69,21,695 where the right answer is ₹71,82,119.
The effect is large, because those last 6 years work on the biggest balance. On the default deposit, the account holds about ₹44.76 lakh at the end of year 15, the last year you pay in. With no further deposits, it grows to about ₹71.82 lakh by year 21, so roughly ₹27 lakh of the maturity is interest earned after you stopped contributing. The year-by-year table in the tool shows deposits stopping at year 15 and the balance climbing on its own after that.
Yearly or monthly deposits
Like PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi interest is calculated on the monthly minimum balance, so when you pay in matters. A single deposit made early in the year earns interest on the whole amount for all 12 months, while the same money spread across the year earns less, because each installment sits in the account for only part of the year.
The difference is real money over 15 years. Paying ₹1.5 lakh in one yearly deposit matures at about ₹71.82 lakh, while ₹12,500 a month, the same ₹1.5 lakh a year, matures at about ₹69.33 lakh, a gap of roughly ₹2.49 lakh for the identical ₹22.5 lakh deposited. This calculator models both correctly, so the monthly figure is honest and not just the yearly number relabelled.
The formula published alongside these calculators
Every SSY calculator we checked prints the same expression, A = P(1 + r/n)^nt, which is the compound interest formula for a single lump sum. It has no term for fifteen separate annual deposits and no way to express six years of growth after they stop, so it cannot produce the figure printed beside it.
Take the worked example on the page ranking first: ₹50,000 a year at 8.2%. Fifteen deposit years make ₹7,50,000 of principal, and compounding that as one lump for 21 years gives ₹39,24,946. The number that page correctly displays is ₹23,94,040, which is what a proper year-by-year model returns. This calculator returns ₹23,94,040 on those inputs too.
So the arithmetic behind the published figures is sound and the formula printed above them is decorative. It's worth knowing which one to trust if you ever try to check the result by hand.
A year-by-year worked example
Follow the default ₹1.5 lakh yearly deposit at 8.2%. Each year the deposit is added and the whole balance earns interest, until deposits stop at year 15.
| Year | Deposit | Interest that year | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹1,50,000 | ₹12,300 | ₹1,62,300 |
| 15 | ₹1,50,000 | ₹3,39,215 | ₹44,75,989 |
| 16 | ₹0 | ₹3,67,031 | ₹48,43,020 |
| 21 | ₹0 | ₹5,44,301 | ₹71,82,119 |
By the final year the account earns about ₹5.44 lakh of interest on its own, more than three times the ₹1.5 lakh you used to deposit each year. That's compounding running unaided through the six-year gap.
Tax benefits and the rules
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is fully exempt-exempt-exempt: the deposit earns a Section 80C deduction, the interest is tax-free, and the maturity is tax-free. The 80C deduction covers up to ₹1.5 lakh of deposit a year under the old regime, and this calculator turns it into a rupee figure. A 30% taxpayer depositing the full ₹1.5 lakh saves ₹46,800 in tax each year including the 4% cess, which is ₹7.02 lakh across the 15 deposit years on top of the interest.
A few limits shape the account. Deposits run from ₹250 to ₹1,50,000 a year, and at least ₹250 a year keeps it active. Miss that and the account goes dormant; reviving it costs ₹50 for each defaulted year on top of the ₹250 minimum for those years. The account is opened for a girl child before she turns 10, and a family can hold two, one per girl, or three if a later birth is twins or triplets. The girl operates it herself once she turns 18, and the withdrawal and closure rules are set out above.
Getting money out, and the 4% trap
A Sukanya Samriddhi account allows a partial withdrawal of up to 50% of the previous financial year's balance once the girl turns 18 or passes Class 10, whichever comes first. The Class 10 trigger is the half most write-ups drop, and it matters: a girl who clears her boards at 15 or 16 reaches that balance two or three years before her eighteenth birthday.
The withdrawal is for higher education, it needs proof of admission or a fee demand, and it runs one withdrawal per financial year across at most five years. It is not a general-purpose tap.
Closing the account early is a different matter, and considerably more restricted than most summaries suggest. No premature closure is permitted at all in the first five years. After that the permitted grounds are narrow: the death of the account holder, a life-threatening illness, or the death of the guardian operating the account. Marriage qualifies too, once the girl is 18, with the paperwork accepted from one month before the wedding to three months after.
Anything else, and the scheme stops being an 8.2% product.
| Closing early for an unapproved reason | Balance at 8.2% | Recomputed at 4% | What the exit costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| At year 10 | ₹23,73,618 | ₹18,72,953 | ₹5,00,665 |
| At year 15 | ₹44,75,989 | ₹31,23,680 | ₹13,52,309 |
An early exit outside those grounds is repriced to the post office savings rate of 4% for the whole life of the account, not just from the date you ask. On the default deposit that is ₹13.52 lakh at the fifteen-year mark, which is most of the reason the scheme can afford its headline rate. None of the ranked calculators mentions it.
SSY or PPF
Both Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and PPF are government-backed, fully tax-free schemes, but they differ on rate, purpose, and timeline.
| Feature | Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana | PPF |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | 8.2%, set quarterly | 7.1%, set quarterly |
| For whom | A girl child under 10 | Anyone |
| Deposit period | 15 years | 15 years |
| Matures | 21 years from opening | 15 years from opening |
| Yearly limit | ₹1.5 lakh | ₹1.5 lakh |
| Tax | Fully tax-free (EEE) | Fully tax-free (EEE) |
SSY pays more and runs longer, but it locks the money to a daughter's education and marriage; the PPF calculator covers the general-purpose version that anyone can open. To size the total a goal like education needs, the retirement corpus calculator uses the same backward-from-a-target maths for any long horizon.
What this does not promise
The 8.2% rate is not fixed for the life of the account. The government resets Sukanya Samriddhi every quarter, so a 21-year projection at today's rate is a planning estimate, and the real maturity drifts as the rate changes over the decades the account runs. The tool holds the rate you enter flat across the term, which is the standard convention, so treat the output as an illustration pinned to today's rate. SSY returns and rules are set by the government and this is not investment advice, so a SEBI-registered adviser can weigh it against your other goals for the child.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana calculator? A Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana calculator estimates the maturity amount of an SSY account for a girl child, from the deposit, the interest rate, and the scheme's fixed timeline. It deposits for 15 years, compounds the balance to the 21-year maturity, and shows the total interest and the 80C tax the deposit saves.
What is the current SSY interest rate? The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana interest rate is 8.2% per annum for the October to December 2026 quarter, compounded annually. The government sets it every quarter, and it has stayed at 8.2% since January 2024. At 8.2%, SSY currently pays more than PPF's 7.1%.
How many years do you deposit in SSY, and when does it mature? You deposit into a Sukanya Samriddhi account for 15 years from the date it is opened, and the account matures 21 years from opening. For the final 6 years there are no deposits, but the balance keeps earning interest, which is why the maturity value is much larger than the total deposited.
How much can I deposit in SSY per year? You can deposit a minimum of ₹250 and a maximum of ₹1,50,000 in a Sukanya Samriddhi account per financial year. A deposit of at least ₹250 a year keeps the account active, and amounts above ₹1.5 lakh are not accepted, which is why this calculator caps the yearly deposit there.
What is the maturity amount for ₹1.5 lakh a year in SSY? Depositing the full ₹1,50,000 a year for 15 years at 8.2% grows to about ₹71.82 lakh at the 21-year maturity, on ₹22.5 lakh deposited. The rest, about ₹49.3 lakh, is tax-free interest earned over the 21 years.
Who is eligible for Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana? A Sukanya Samriddhi account is opened by a parent or guardian for a girl child before she turns 10. A family can hold at most two accounts, one for each girl, with a third allowed if a later birth is twins or triplets.
Is Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana tax-free? Yes, SSY has the full exempt-exempt-exempt status. The deposit earns a Section 80C deduction of up to ₹1.5 lakh under the old regime, the interest is tax-free, and the maturity amount is tax-free, the same treatment as PPF.
Can I withdraw from SSY before maturity? Up to 50% of the balance at the end of the previous financial year can be withdrawn once the girl turns 18 or passes Class 10, whichever comes first. It is for higher education, needs proof of admission or a fee demand, and is limited to one withdrawal a financial year across at most five years. The account otherwise stays locked until the 21-year maturity.
What happens if I close an SSY account early? No premature closure is allowed in the first five years at all. After that it is permitted on the death of the account holder, a life-threatening illness, or the death of the guardian operating the account, and on the girl's marriage once she is 18, with paperwork accepted from a month before the wedding to three months after. Any other early exit is repriced at the post office savings rate of 4% for the life of the account: on a full ₹1.5 lakh a year, closing at year 15 returns about ₹31.24 lakh against ₹44.76 lakh.
What happens if I miss the minimum SSY deposit? The account goes dormant if a financial year passes without at least ₹250 in it. Reviving it costs ₹50 for each defaulted year plus the ₹250 minimum for those years. A dormant account keeps the balance it has, but it stops being a place you can add to.
Sources
- ClearTax, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana interest rate and rules
- Canara HSBC Life, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana 2026 guide
- The India Post, SSY withdrawal, premature closure and education rules
- Wikipedia, Sukanya Samriddhi Account, scheme history and the 2019 rules
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), investor education