Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Guide 2026
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) is a government-backed small savings scheme launched in January 2015 under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative. It gives parents and guardians a dedicated, high-interest, fully tax-exempt vehicle to build a corpus for a girl child's higher education and marriage. The scheme is straightforward and the returns rank among the best available in any guaranteed instrument. Its EEE tax status, exempt at contribution, exempt on interest, exempt at maturity, makes it especially strong for long-horizon goals.
This guide walks through every material rule you need to know in five steps, from eligibility to withdrawal.
Step 1: Check Eligibility and Open Account
Who can open an account
A parent or legal guardian can open an SSY account for a girl child who is below 10 years of age on the date of account opening. The child must be an Indian resident. Only one account per girl child is allowed, and a family can hold a maximum of two accounts, one for each daughter. If the second birth in a family results in twin girls or triplet girls, a third account is permitted under special provisions for multiple births.
There's no income limit. Any parent or guardian can open an account, regardless of income bracket.
Where to open
Accounts can be opened at any head post office or sub-post office across India, or at authorised commercial banks such as State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and others notified by the Ministry of Finance.
The process requires the girl child's birth certificate, the parent or guardian's identity and address proof, and a photograph. A passbook is issued when the account opens.
Age cut-off matters
Once a girl child turns 10, no new account can be opened in her name. This deadline is firm, with no grace periods or exceptions. If your daughter is approaching 10, open the account now even if you only plan to deposit the minimum amount for the time being.
Step 2: Understand the Scheme Rules
Deposit rules
| Parameter | Rule |
|---|---|
| Minimum per financial year | Rs 250 |
| Maximum per financial year | Rs 1,50,000 |
| Deposit period | 15 years from account opening date |
| Account maturity | 21 years from account opening date |
Deposits run for only 15 years, but the account stays open for 21. From year 16 to year 21, no fresh deposits are required; the balance keeps earning compounding interest at the prevailing SSY rate. This six-year compounding tail is one of the most underappreciated features of the scheme.
You can deposit in a single lump sum or in as many instalments as you like within a financial year, with no cap on the number of transactions.
Interest rate
The current SSY interest rate is 8.2% per annum, compounded annually. The Ministry of Finance reviews and announces the rate every quarter, in April, July, October, and January. Interest is calculated on the minimum balance between the 10th and the last day of each calendar month and credited to the account at the end of the financial year.
That means deposits made before the 10th of any month earn interest for the full month. In practice, depositing your annual amount in April, before the 10th, earns a full year of interest on that deposit.
Irregular accounts
Fail to deposit the minimum Rs 250 in any financial year and the account gets classified as irregular. Reactivating it means paying Rs 50 per defaulted year as a penalty, plus the minimum deposit for each missed year. The account keeps earning interest on the existing balance even while irregular.
Step 3: Calculate Your Target Corpus
The Sukanya Samriddhi Calculator lets you model exactly how much your daughter will receive at maturity based on how much you deposit each year.
Illustration at maximum deposit
Deposit Rs 1,50,000 per year for 15 years at a constant rate of 8.2% compounded annually:
| Year | Annual Deposit | Cumulative Deposit | Balance at Year End |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rs 1,50,000 | Rs 1,50,000 | Rs 1,62,300 |
| 5 | Rs 1,50,000 | Rs 7,50,000 | Rs 9,49,289 |
| 10 | Rs 1,50,000 | Rs 15,00,000 | Rs 24,34,296 |
| 15 | Rs 1,50,000 | Rs 22,50,000 | Rs 49,24,887 |
| 21 (maturity) | No deposit | Rs 22,50,000 | Rs 71,82,119 |
Depositing the maximum Rs 1.5 lakh every year for 15 years produces approximately Rs 71.82 lakh at maturity, on a total investment of Rs 22.5 lakh. The remaining Rs 49.32 lakh is entirely tax-free interest.
Adjusting for inflation
Rs 71 lakh in 2026 won't buy what Rs 71 lakh buys in 21 years. Use the Inflation Calculator to convert that corpus to today's purchasing power. At India's historical consumer price inflation of around 5-6%, Rs 71 lakh received in 2047 has roughly the purchasing power of Rs 24-28 lakh today. That's still significant, and it's part of why supplementing SSY with equity investments through a SIP can meaningfully increase your daughter's real wealth.
What if you cannot deposit Rs 1.5 lakh?
At Rs 50,000 per year for 15 years (8.2%), the maturity corpus comes to approximately Rs 23.94 lakh. At Rs 1,00,000 per year it's approximately Rs 47.88 lakh. Run your own numbers on the SSY Calculator.
Step 4: Understand Tax Benefits
SSY carries EEE status, the most favourable tax treatment available in India.
Exempt at contribution (Section 80C): Deposits into SSY qualify for deduction under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. The aggregate limit across all 80C instruments is Rs 1.5 lakh per financial year, so investing Rs 1.5 lakh in SSY uses up your entire 80C limit. That reduces your taxable income by Rs 1.5 lakh, saving Rs 46,800 a year if you're in the 30% tax bracket, including surcharge and cess at applicable rates.
Exempt on interest: Interest accruing on the SSY balance is completely exempt from income tax each year. You don't need to declare it as income, add it to your total income, or pay any tax on it. Compare that to bank fixed deposits, where interest is taxable, and even to some other small savings schemes.
Exempt at maturity: The entire maturity amount, principal plus all interest accumulated over 21 years, is tax-free when withdrawn. No Long-Term Capital Gains tax, no TDS, no disclosure requirements beyond standard wealth reporting. Equity mutual funds, by contrast, tax gains above Rs 1 lakh at 10% LTCG.
Comparison with PPF
Both SSY and PPF carry EEE status. The difference comes down to the interest rate: SSY currently offers 8.2% versus PPF's 7.1%. Compare projected outcomes using the PPF Calculator.
Step 5: Understand Withdrawal Rules
Partial withdrawal for education (after girl turns 18)
Once the girl child turns 18, you can withdraw up to 50% of the account balance as at the end of the previous financial year, specifically for higher education. You'll need a confirmed admission offer or fee demand letter from a recognised educational institution, plus proof that the girl is 18 or older.
The withdrawal can be taken as a lump sum or in up to five annual instalments. The remaining 50% keeps earning interest until maturity.
Full withdrawal at maturity
The account matures 21 years from its opening date. At maturity, the full balance, principal and all accumulated interest, gets paid to the girl child, who by then is the account holder in her own right. The entire amount is tax-free.
Premature closure on marriage after 18
If the girl marries after turning 18 but before the account matures at 21, the account can close prematurely. Submit the closure application no earlier than one month before the marriage date and no later than three months after, with age proof confirming she's 18 or older. The full balance pays out tax-free.
Premature closure on other grounds
Only two other situations permit premature closure. If the account holder dies, the balance goes to the guardian or nominee immediately. On medical grounds, meaning life-threatening illness of the account holder or death of the guardian, the government may allow premature closure.
No other reason works, whether financial hardship or a parent's preference to switch investments. This is a real restriction compared to PPF, which allows partial withdrawals from year 7 for any purpose. Use the PPF Calculator if you need a more flexible long-term instrument.
Account transfer
SSY accounts can be transferred between any post offices and authorised banks across India at no charge, useful if a family relocates to another city.
Key Terms
- SSY (Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana): A government small savings scheme for girl children, offering high guaranteed returns and EEE tax status.
- EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt): Tax treatment where the investment, interest earned, and maturity proceeds are all exempt from income tax.
- Section 80C: The Income Tax Act provision allowing deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh per year for specified investments including SSY, PPF, ELSS, and life insurance premiums.
- Compounding: The process by which interest earned in one period itself earns interest in subsequent periods, growing the corpus exponentially over time.
Related Tools
- Sukanya Samriddhi Calculator: Model your SSY corpus with custom deposit amounts and view year-by-year balance growth.
- PPF Calculator: Compare SSY with PPF to decide which instrument better suits your family's goals.
- SIP Calculator: Plan the equity component of your daughter's education fund alongside SSY.
- Inflation Calculator: See what your SSY maturity corpus will actually be worth in real terms at the time of withdrawal.