₹50 Lakh FD Calculator

What is a Fixed Deposit (FD)?

A Fixed Deposit is a savings product where you commit a lump sum amount with a bank or NBFC for a chosen tenure — anywhere from 7 days to 10 years — in exchange for a fixed interest rate agreed up front. Unlike a savings account, the rate doesn't move with the market; what you sign up for is what you get, regardless of what RBI does later.

Two things make FDs a default starting point for risk-averse Indian savers:

1. Capital protection. Bank FDs in India are insured up to ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank by DICGC. Even if the bank fails, that ₹5 lakh is recovered. Compare this with mutual funds, where capital is fully exposed to market risk.
2. Predictable returns. The interest rate is locked at opening. If you book a 5-year FD at 7.25%, that's what you'll earn — useful for retirees, sinking-fund savers, and anyone who needs to know the exact value at a future date.

How this FD calculator works

You enter five things: the principal amount, the annual interest rate, the tenure in years, how often interest is compounded, and the payout mode.

Cumulative mode — interest is added to the principal at the compounding interval and the full amount is paid at maturity. The formula is the standard compound interest equation:

Where:

• A — the maturity amount
• P — the principal you deposit
• r — the annual interest rate (as a decimal)
• n — compounding frequency per year (4 for quarterly, 12 for monthly)
• t — tenure in years

Monthly-interest mode — interest is paid out every month as simple interest on the principal, and the principal itself is returned at the end. The monthly payout is:

For the same nominal rate, cumulative always yields a higher maturity figure because the interest itself earns interest over the tenure.

A worked example: ₹1 crore at 7% for 5 years

Suppose you deposit ₹1,00,00,000 at 7% annual interest for 5 years, compounded quarterly (the default for most Indian bank FDs).

• Maturity amount (cumulative): approximately ₹1,41,47,789
• Total interest earned over 5 years: approximately ₹41,47,789
• Monthly interest if you choose payout mode instead: ₹58,333 per month
• Total interest in monthly-payout mode over 5 years: ₹35,00,000 (less than cumulative because there's no compounding on the paid-out interest)

Run the same inputs above to see the year-by-year balance table. Switch payout mode to see the trade-off between higher maturity (cumulative) and steady monthly income (payout).

Tax on FD interest — TDS and your income-tax slab

FD interest is taxable as "Income from Other Sources" and added to your total income, taxed at your applicable slab rate. Two things to know:

• TDS at 10% is deducted by the bank if your FD interest from that bank exceeds ₹40,000 in a financial year (₹50,000 for senior citizens). If you haven't given your PAN, the TDS rate jumps to 20%.
• TDS isn't the final tax. You still report the gross interest in your ITR. If your slab is higher than 10%, you pay the difference; if lower (or nil), you claim a refund. Submit Form 15G/15H if your total income is below the taxable limit and you want to skip TDS at source — see Form 15G & 15H for FD for eligibility, timing, and the costly mistakes.

Use the tax-slab toggle in the input panel above to see your post-tax interest alongside the gross figure — useful for comparing FD returns honestly against other tax-advantaged options.

When an FD makes sense for you

FDs work best when at least one of the following is true:

1. You have a goal in 1–5 years and cannot risk capital — a home down payment, a child's admission fee, a known tax outflow.
2. You want a predictable monthly income on idle capital — common for retirees who pick monthly-payout mode and treat the principal as untouched.
3. You're parking an emergency fund and value access in 1–2 working days over the higher long-term returns of equity.
4. You're a senior citizen — banks typically pay 0.5% extra on regular FDs and even more on dedicated senior-citizen schemes.

FDs are generally not the best fit when your horizon is 7+ years (equity historically beats FD returns after tax) or when inflation expectations exceed FD rates (real returns turn negative).

For the full lineup — tax-saver, senior-citizen, flexi, NRE/NRO, corporate — see Types of Fixed Deposits in India. To pick the bank, compare live rates across PSU, private, Small Finance Banks, and Post Office in the best FD interest rates guide, or jump straight to the absolute peak rates in the highest FD interest rates leaderboard.

What this calculator can't tell you

The projection is exact given the inputs, but real-world FDs have nuances the calculator doesn't model:

• Premature withdrawal penalty — most banks deduct 0.5–1% from the applicable rate if you break the FD before maturity. The effective return drops accordingly.
• Inflation — ₹1.41 crore in 5 years buys less than ₹1.41 crore today. If you assume 6% inflation, the real-rupees value at maturity is closer to ₹1.06 crore.
• Rate changes during a roll-over — if you plan to renew the FD after maturity, the new rate may be higher or lower. Plan around the rate-cycle, not just the headline today.
• DICGC limit — only ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank is insured. Large deposits should be spread across banks rather than concentrated in one.

FD vs RD vs SIP — pick by cash flow, not by return

The three options solve different problems even though all build a corpus over time:

• FD — a one-time lump sum locked at a fixed rate. Best when you already have idle capital and want capital protection.
• RD (Recurring Deposit) — fixed monthly deposits at a fixed rate. Best when income is monthly and you want capital protection but don't have a lump sum to deploy. See FD vs RD compared for the realised-return gap at identical headline rates.
• SIP — fixed monthly investment in mutual funds. Best when horizon is 5+ years and you can accept market volatility for higher expected returns.

For lump-sum mutual-fund deployment, use the Lumpsum calculator — the direct equity counterpart to a cumulative FD.