NSC Interest Rates Trends 2025: Post Office, Senior Citizens

National Savings Certificates is an investment scheme offered by the Government of India through post office. It is one of the most popular investment instruments for savings and tax benefits under section 80C for those with lower income. The National Savings Certificate interest rates have remained unchanged for the last three quarters, i.e., Jan 25 to March 25, April 25 to June 25 and July 25 to September 25. Let us take a look at the NSC scheme, interest rate trends from the past years and how much return can be expected.

LATEST UPDATE:
In an announcement on June 30, 2025, the Government of India has kept NSC rates unchanged for the second quarter of the financial year 2025-2026. The NSC rates will stay at 7.7% from July 2025 to September 2025.

What is NSC (National Savings Certificate)?

NSC is a government backed small savings scheme offered at the post offices across the country. The scheme was introduced to prompt citizens to save regularly even if it is a small amount, as low as ₹ 1000. Those who choose to invest money in this scheme have to lock-in their savings for 5 years. The investment is compounded annually but is paid only on maturity. There is no clause of premature withdrawal. Moreover, there is a tax benefit of up to ₹ 1.5 lakhs under Section 80 C. 

10 Year NSC Interest Rate Trends

Current NSC interest rates announced by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance remains at 7.7%

Here are the historical trends of the NSC interest rates over the past few years including 5 year NSC interest rate chart:

Calculation of Interest on NSC

As mentioned previously the interest calculation on NSC works on annual compounding method, however, payout is given at maturity. Let us try to understand this with the help of an example using NSC calculator:
Lets assume you invested ₹ 100000 in National Saving Certificate scheme in March 2020, the calculations will go something like this:

• Amount invested: ₹ 100000
• Rate of Interest: 7.7%
• Time Period: 5 years
• Total amount on maturity: ₹ 144904
• Interest Earned: ₹ 44904

Here is the compounded  interest split over the course of 5 years:

NSC vs 5 year FD in 2025

Let us compare the interest earned over 5 years FD with NSC interest rates.

Assuming the investment amount is ₹100000 and tenure is 5 years, these will be the expected interest rates and returns:

Read more: NSC vs FD, which is better?

Conclusion

Being a small savings investment scheme, the National Savings Certificate is an excellent investment instrument. With compounding interest calculation and added tax benefit, it has become a popular choice among new or low risk investors. 

If you are looking to earn higher returns, check out FD interest rates that go as high as 9.10%. Download Stable Money App to explore now.