PPF Interest Rate History 1968 to Present

Last Updated on September 5, 2025 at 9:44 am

The Public Provident Fund (PPF) is a popular tax-saving instrument in India. The Government of India introduced it in 1968 and fully guarantees the scheme. NRIs cannot open new PPF accounts but can continue their existing ones till maturity (15 years). A person can open only one PPF account for himself and one account each for minors he’s a parent/guardian. No joint PPF accounts are allowed. The scheme’s duration is 15 years, extendable for one or more blocks of 5 years each.

Minimum yearly deposits in the scheme are Rs 500, and the maximum limit is Rs 1.5 lakh per annum. Any amount deposited over Rs 1.5 lakh in a financial year doesn’t earn any interest. PPF investments enjoy the Exempt-Exempt-Exempt (EEE) status. This means that deposits made in PPF up to Rs 1.5 lakh per year are deductible under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, and the accumulated amount and interest are tax-free during accrual and at the time of withdrawal. A person can also invest in the PPF account of his/her spouse. The interest and maturity proceeds remain tax-free in this scenario.

The Public Provident Fund Scheme, 2019, replaced the original PF scheme on 12.12.2019. Some key changes were:

Lower interest on loan against PPF of 1% above the prevailing PPF rate (2% earlier).
After completing five financial years, grounds for premature closure were extended to include higher education of dependent children and a change in the account holder’s residency status. Earlier, premature closure was only allowed in case of serious ailments or life-threatening diseases affecting the account holder, spouse, dependent children or parents and for the higher education of the account holder.
No upper limit on the number of deposits in a year, subject to the maximum amount of Rs 1.5 lakh. The deposits can be in multiples of Rs 50. The maximum limit was 12 deposits per year in multiples of Rs 5.

The PPF interest rates have fluctuated since the scheme began in 1968-69. The golden period was 1986-87 to 14.01.2000, when the rates were as high as 12%.

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This is a table of PPF interest rates from 1968 to the present.