FD rates in India on 4 November 2026: what ₹5 lakh could earn

Your bank sends an FD renewal message. You could accept it and move on. But before you do, it’s worth spending a few minutes checking what the same money could earn elsewhere—and whether you’ll need it sooner than you think.

On ₹5 lakh, a one-year deposit at 7.25% would grow to approximately ₹5,37,248 with quarterly compounding. At 6.25%, the corresponding figure is ₹5,31,990. That is roughly ₹5,300 extra before tax. It is a useful reason to compare banks, alongside the withdrawal terms, the service you will need and your total exposure to each bank.

The rate is a good place to start. The date you need the money is what helps you choose.

When will you need the money?

If this money is for next year’s school fees, a tempting three-year rate won’t help much. If it’s your emergency fund, find out how quickly you can withdraw it. Those questions matter before you start comparing percentages.

If you carry expensive debt, compare its cost with the return from a deposit before committing more money. In a February 2024 interview, financial adviser Harsh Roongta urged readers to “pay off more expensive loans first.” Keep essential liquidity and any prepayment charges in that decision. Read the original interview.

What’s happening to interest rates?

HDFC Mutual Fund’s October review records a 25-basis-point repo-rate increase to 5.50%. That’s a rise of 0.25 percentage points. It gives you a reason to check your renewal offer; it doesn’t tell you which bank will move next.

When using RateScan’s rate-movement tracker, check the product, deposit amount, customer category and tenure. A change to a large-deposit rate may have no bearing on a ₹5 lakh FD.

The dates matter too. Effective is the date stated by the bank. Changed on is when RateScan’s snapshots first showed the new value. Last checked records the most recent successful verification. A newly recorded rate can have an older effective date, so a fresh entry alone does not establish that the bank changed its offer that day.

Use the tracker to find the relevant announcement, then open the underlying schedule before acting.

What do those rates mean for ₹5 lakh?

These selected offers show why the exact term matters. The maturity figures assume a cumulative FD, quarterly compounding and no withdrawals. Compare rows with the same term; a larger maturity after five years is not evidence of a better one-year return.

One small detail is particularly useful: Jana’s 7.30% rate begins after one year. Its published rate for exactly 365 days is 7.00%. A special term or an extra day can change the applicable rate. Read the tenure band before comparing a headline with your renewal offer. Jana’s published schedule.

For a wider search, open the live FD rankings. Match the amount and customer category to your own deposit.

Is switching banks worth the extra interest?

The one-percentage-point gap between the two one-year examples is worth about ₹5,300 on ₹5 lakh under our model. Whether moving banks is worthwhile also depends on the account-opening effort, any associated charges and how easily you can manage the deposit later.

For an existing FD, ask for the premature-closure value today. Compare that amount reinvested until your original maturity date with the amount you would receive by leaving the FD alone, on the same tax basis. The quoted new rate is only one input; the closure terms can change the result.

Tax also changes what you keep. As a simple illustration, ₹40,000 of taxable interest leaves ₹28,000 at an assumed 30% income-tax rate, before cess and surcharge and with no deductions. Your liability depends on your circumstances. A TDS deduction is a credit against tax due, rather than a universal final tax rate. ICICI Bank’s explanation of FD interest and TDS.

Use the FD calculator to translate an offer into a maturity estimate. For a monthly-payout deposit, obtain the bank’s actual payout quote; dividing annual interest by twelve is only a budgeting approximation.

The ₹5 lakh insurance limit includes your interest

The DICGC limit is ₹5 lakh per depositor per insured bank, including principal and interest, in the same right and capacity. Savings balances, FDs and other covered deposits in that capacity are combined. Opening another FD or using another branch of the same bank does not create another ₹5 lakh allowance. Deposits at different banks are insured separately. DICGC’s FAQs.

This makes a ₹5 lakh starting principal an important boundary: interest can take the balance beyond the insured limit. Under the one-year 7.25% model above, approximately ₹4.65 lakh grows to just under ₹5 lakh, assuming no other deposits at that bank. Other balances and their interest use some of the same allowance. DICGC’s guide to principal, interest and aggregation.

Check the bank’s current registration and your combined balances when deciding how much to place. Keep access needs in the decision too: insurance protection and immediate access to cash are different things.

An NBFC or company deposit belongs in a separate comparison. RBI explains that deposits accepted by deposit-taking NBFCs do not have DICGC protection. RBI’s explanation.

You don’t have to guess where rates go next

“Nobody can predict the rate cycles perfectly,” Dev Ashish wrote in his November 2022 column on FD laddering. The useful principle is to spread decision dates rather than depend on getting one forecast right. Read his original column.

A ladder could split money intended for longer-term use across deposits maturing in one, two and three years. When the first matures, use it if needed or consider reinvesting it. Different maturity dates provide opportunities to reassess the money in stages.

Pick dates that fit your life. A deposit meant to pay a bill next June should mature before that bill arrives. A ladder gives you several chances to review your money, although it won’t always earn more. And three FDs in one bank still share that bank’s insurance allowance.

Before accepting a higher rate, check whether the deposit is callable, meaning premature withdrawal is permitted under its terms. A non-callable offer restricts that option. Jana, for example, lists its FD Plus product separately as having no premature-withdrawal facility. Jana’s product conditions.

For seniors, the extra rate can vary by term

An additional senior rate varies by bank and tenure. Jana’s cited three-year offer is 8.00% for regular customers and 8.30% for seniors. SBI’s published five-to-ten-year band is 6.05% for regular customers and 7.05% for seniors, including its stated We-care premium. Check the applicable scheme conditions. Jana’s schedule, SBI’s schedule.

For someone using interest to pay household bills, compare the payout frequency, net income and ability to withdraw with the maturity value of a cumulative FD. Those answer different needs.

What about the best rates in your city?

It can change which banks are practical for you to use. A useful metro comparison should establish local access, remote onboarding, eligibility and how the FD can be closed.

For a Bengaluru reader, a bank’s presence somewhere in Karnataka does not establish a nearby branch. A reader comparing Delhi, Gurugram and Noida may need to look across three state or territory filters. The same care applies to local options around Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Start with banks you can open and service an account with. Then investigate local alternatives through the bank’s branch locator and eligibility rules. State-filtered rankings can help you discover names; confirm access at your postcode before including them in your final comparison.

Before you book, save these four things

A savings account, an FD and an RD serve different cash flows. Savings preserves day-to-day access, an FD invests a lump sum, and an RD builds a balance through instalments. An RD’s maturity cannot be compared with a lump-sum FD as though every instalment had earned interest for the full term.

Put your existing bank and two realistic alternatives into the bank comparison. Check the same term and amount, then keep a record of:

1. The bank’s rate schedule, effective date and your booking confirmation.
2. The maturity date and maturity or payout instructions.
3. The premature-withdrawal conditions and your total balance at that bank.
4. Nominee details and where your family can find the deposit record.

Then set a reminder before the FD matures. You’ll have the paperwork, the dates and a reason to compare again. That makes the next renewal much easier.

How we prepared this guide: Research cut-off 4 November 2026. The table contains selected retail examples using the exact published tenure bands. SBI and Jana link to their bank schedules; Ujjivan is attributed to RateScan’s dated source record. Calculations assume quarterly compounding, a 365-day year and whole-rupee rounding, before tax and without withdrawals. The bank lists also include HDFC, Shivalik and two local co-operative banks, linked to their published schedules. Local eligibility and older or missing effective dates are called out beside those offers. This is a dated comparison; check bank schedules for current offers.