What is a public provident fund?
You invest your money in a PPF. You get interest on the money, you invest in the public provident fund. On maturity of the PPF, you get your principal (money you have invested), back along with interest. You can make up to 12 transactions a year.
Minimum amount: You can invest a minimum amount of INR 500 in a year in a PPF.
Maximum amount: You can invest a maximum amount of INR 1.5 Lakhs in a year in a PPF.
Lock in: The PPF has a lock in period of 15 years. You can extend your PPF in blocks of 5 years, with or without making a further contribution.
If you continue your PPF after 15 years without making any contributions, you can withdraw any amount from this account, subject to a single withdrawal a year.
If you continue your PPF after 15 years and you make contributions (invest money into the PPF), then you can withdraw up to 60% of the amount in the PPF account, at the beginning of the 5 year block.