Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Calculator

Deposits Stop at 15 Years, But the Account Runs 21

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana requires deposits for only the first 15 years from account opening, but the account itself matures 21 years after opening (or on the girl's marriage after age 18, if earlier). Between year 15 and year 21, the account keeps earning interest on the accumulated balance without any further deposits required. This calculator models the 15-year deposit period — the actual maturity value at year 21 will be meaningfully higher due to those extra 6 years of interest on the balance.

Worked Example

₹5,000 monthly deposit for the full 15-year contribution period at 8.2% p.a.:

This ₹17.73 lakh keeps compounding at the prevailing SSY rate for another 6 years with no further deposits needed, before the account matures at year 21 — so the figure you'll actually receive is higher than what's shown here.

EEE Tax Status and Eligibility

SSY carries full EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) tax treatment — deposits are deductible under the combined 80C limit (old regime only), interest is tax-free, and the maturity amount is tax-free. The account can be opened for a girl child below 10 years of age, and a family can open a maximum of two SSY accounts (an exception exists for twins/triplets in specific birth-order circumstances).

SSY vs PPF vs Market-Linked Options for a Child's Goals

Parents saving for a daughter's education or marriage generally weigh SSY against a handful of alternatives — most commonly PPF, and separately, market-linked options such as child-focused mutual funds or ULIPs. Each sits at a different point on the risk-and-flexibility spectrum, and the right mix usually depends on how far away the goal is and how much volatility a family is comfortable riding out.

SSY and PPF share the same EEE tax status and the same fixed-rate, sovereign-backed nature — the real difference is eligibility and lock-in structure, not tax treatment. Market-linked options don't offer a fixed or assured return at all; they can outperform fixed-rate instruments over long horizons but can also underperform, so they typically suit a portion of the portfolio rather than the whole of it, especially for a goal as important as a daughter's education.

Why SSY Commonly Carries a Higher Rate Than PPF

SSY is a targeted small-savings scheme designed specifically to encourage long-term saving for the girl child, and the government has historically notified it at a somewhat higher rate than PPF and other general small-savings instruments, as an incentive built into the scheme's design. Both rates are revised quarterly and depend on prevailing government bond yields and broader policy considerations, so the exact gap between the two moves over time and isn't fixed by any rule. What stays consistent is the underlying intent — SSY is meant to be the more rewarding of the two fixed-rate options for money set aside for a girl child, even though the precise spread varies from quarter to quarter. Because of this, it's worth checking the current notified rates for both schemes at the time you're actually investing rather than relying on a rate you saw some time ago.

Minimum Deposit and What Happens If You Miss a Year

SSY requires a prescribed minimum deposit each financial year to keep the account active, alongside the ₹1.5 lakh annual maximum shown in the calculator above. If a year passes without meeting that minimum, the account is treated as falling into default status rather than being closed outright.

A defaulted SSY account can typically be revived by paying the shortfall for each missed year along with a small regularization fee, subject to the scheme's rules at the time of revival. Since the exact minimum deposit figure and the per-year penalty amount are subject to change through government notification, it's best to confirm the current figures with your post office or bank branch before assuming a specific rupee amount — this guide intentionally avoids quoting a number we can't verify as current.

Documents and Process to Open an SSY Account

An SSY account can be opened at a post office or at the specific bank branches authorised to offer the scheme. The core requirement is the girl child's birth certificate, along with standard KYC documents (identity and address proof) for the parent or legal guardian opening and operating the account on her behalf. The account is opened with an initial deposit meeting the minimum requirement, and the guardian continues to operate it until the account holder turns 18, after which she can operate it herself with the guardian's consent for certain transactions. Since document checklists can vary slightly by post office or bank and are updated from time to time, it's worth confirming the current list with the branch before your visit rather than assuming the requirements haven't changed.

Does It Matter How Early You Open the Account?

Because deposits are capped at 15 years from account opening regardless of the child's age at that point, and maturity always falls at 21 years from opening, opening the account soon after the girl's birth (rather than waiting several years) gives the corpus more total time to compound before the family starts needing to draw on it — the deposit window and maturity date are anchored to the account's opening date, not to any fixed birthday.

What doesn't shift with the opening date is the age-based milestones tied to the child herself: partial withdrawal for purposes like higher education becomes available once she turns 18, and premature closure on marriage is permitted only after she turns 18 as well. A family that opens the account late still gets the full 15-year deposit window and full 21-year maturity term measured from that later opening date — the account simply matures later in calendar terms, and the child will be correspondingly older when it does, which is worth factoring in when deciding how early to open one.

What Happens If the Account Holder Dies Before Maturity

If the girl child in whose name the account is held passes away before maturity, the account is closed immediately and the balance, including accrued interest, is paid out to the parent or guardian who operated the account. This is distinct from the premature-closure-on-marriage provision described above, and it doesn't attract the penalty or restrictions that apply to closing the account for other reasons.

Because the exact documentation required (death certificate, guardian identity proof, and the account's own paperwork) can vary slightly between post offices and the different authorised banks offering SSY, confirm the current process with the specific branch holding the account rather than assuming a single uniform checklist applies everywhere.

Separately, if the girl child is legally adopted or her guardianship changes, the account and its accumulated balance carry over to the new legal guardian rather than being disturbed, subject to the guardian updating KYC and guardianship documentation with the branch — the account itself is tied to the child, not to any one parent or guardian's continued involvement. This matters in practice for blended families or cases involving legal guardianship changes, where continuity of the SSY account shouldn't be assumed to require reopening it from scratch — the branch handling the account can guide the family through updating the relevant records instead.