Post office and government savings schemes for a boy child

There is no post office scheme just for boys. The Government has no savings scheme limited to sons, the way Sukanya Samriddhi is limited to girls. Parents of a son use the general post office schemes for a boy child, such as PPF, NSC, KVP and the post office recurring deposit, opened in his name by a parent or guardian. A post office savings scheme (also called a small savings scheme) is a government-run scheme sold through post offices, with interest rates the Government sets every quarter.

A guardian is the adult who acts for a child. A minor is anyone under 18. This page covers how each scheme works for a son, the tax and what changes at 18.

Is there a post office scheme just for boys?

No. National Savings Institute (NSI) lists nine national savings schemes: the post office savings account, the recurring deposit, the time deposit, the monthly income scheme, the Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme, the National Savings Certificate, Kisan Vikas Patra, the Public Provident Fund and the Sukanya Samriddhi account. None of them is limited to boys.

Sukanya Samriddhi is the only one limited by a child's sex. A guardian opens it in the name of a girl child who has not turned ten on the day of opening. For a daughter, see our comparison of investment options for a child and the Sukanya Samriddhi calculator.

Which post office schemes for a boy child can a guardian open?

A guardian can open a PPF account, a National Savings Certificate (NSC), a Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), a recurring deposit (RD), a time deposit (TD) or a monthly income scheme (MIS) in a minor's name. From age 10, a boy can open the RD, TD, MIS, NSC and KVP himself. PPF stays with a guardian until he is an adult.

The Ministry of Finance sets these rates each quarter. For October to December 2026 it kept every post office rate unchanged; the rates have been the same since 1 January 2024.

A time deposit, MIS, NSC or KVP locks in the rate on the day you open it. PPF moves with each quarter's rate. The guardian and the minor must both be resident citizens of India, and you need your Aadhaar and PAN to open any of these.

These schemes are run by the Government of India's Ministry of Finance, and the deposits go into a government account. DICGC deposit insurance covers bank deposits; it does not apply to post office schemes. For more on how safe each option is, see safe investments in India. For rules that cover every scheme, including closing early and NRIs, see post office savings schemes.

How does a PPF account for your son work?

A parent or guardian opens one PPF account in the son's name, pays ₹500 to ₹1,50,000 a financial year in multiples of ₹50, and the account matures 15 years after the end of the year it was opened. Maturity is the date the scheme ends and pays out. Only one account can be opened in a minor's name, and joint accounts are not allowed.

The limit is shared. What a parent puts into their own account and a child's account together cannot pass ₹1,50,000 a year. A parent who puts ₹1,00,000 a year into their own PPF can add at most ₹50,000 to their son's account that year.

The other rules match any PPF account. It can be extended in blocks of five years. A loan is possible from the year after the first deposit's year, and partial withdrawal starts from the 7th financial year. Premature closure is allowed only after five years, for a life-threatening illness, higher education or a change in residency status, at 1 percentage point less interest.

The rate is 7.1% for October to December 2026 and changes each quarter. Our guide on how to open a PPF account covers the full rules, and the PPF calculator shows what a yearly deposit grows to at an assumed rate.

A deduction is an amount you subtract from your income before tax is worked out. A payment into a PPF account in the name of the individual, a spouse or a child counts under section 123 (the old Section 80C), within ₹1,50,000 in total. Income tax has two regimes, or sets of rules: the new regime applies by default, and the old regime, which you can choose instead, allows this deduction. A slab is the band of income taxed at one rate, and cess is an extra 4% charge on the tax. Under the old regime, a parent in the 20% slab who puts ₹30,000 into the son's PPF in a year saves ₹6,000 plus 4% cess, which is ₹6,240, if the ₹1,50,000 section 123 total has room left and the whole ₹30,000 is inside that slab. Under the default regime the saving is nil.

NSC and KVP in a child's name

Both are certificates for one lump sum that a guardian can buy for a son, or that he can buy himself from age 10. NSC runs five years, and KVP runs until the money doubles, which is 115 months (9 years 7 months) at the rate for October to December 2026.

An NSC is a five-year certificate from ₹1,000 in multiples of ₹100, with no upper limit. Interest is added each year and paid with your money at the end. That is compounding: interest that earns interest. Nothing is paid out before maturity. You can cash an NSC early only on the holder's death, on a court order or when a lender enforces a pledge.

A KVP has the same minimum and no upper limit. The deposit doubles on maturity, and the time that takes depends on the rate on the day you buy it.

A KVP is meant to be held to maturity. Before 2½ years you can cash it only on death, on a court order or when a lender enforces a pledge. After 2½ years the post office pays a fixed amount from the rules' table, which is less than the doubled value.

NSC and KVP in depth covers early cashing, buying online and the tax.

Post office RD, time deposit and monthly income scheme for a child

An RD takes a fixed amount every month for five years, a time deposit takes one sum for one to five years, and the monthly income scheme pays interest every month on one sum. An RD starts at ₹100 a month in multiples of ₹10, with no maximum.

You can close an RD after three years, but then you get only the savings-account rate, 4% for Oct–Dec 2026, for the whole period. Our guide to the recurring deposit explains how it works, and the recurring deposit calculator shows the maturity amount at a rate you choose.

A time deposit is one deposit of at least ₹1,000 in multiples of ₹100, with no maximum. Interest is compounded quarterly and paid annually. Nothing can be withdrawn in the first six months, and a 5-year deposit cannot be closed until four years are complete. For bank fixed deposits in a child's name, see fixed deposits for children.

The MIS takes one deposit of at least ₹1,000 in multiples of ₹1,000 and pays interest monthly. One account holds at most ₹9 lakh, a minor's account included, and a joint account ₹15 lakh, counted across all of an individual's accounts. Nothing can be withdrawn in the first year, and 2% of the deposit is cut if you close in years one to three, 1% after. It matures in five years.

Are there government schemes for a newborn boy?

No central government savings scheme is only for boys, so a newborn son uses the same schemes as any child, through a guardian. Readers in Tamil Nadu may hear of the Ponmagan Podhuvaippu Nidhi; ask at your post office whether it is offered and on what terms.

How is the interest on your son's savings taxed?

While your son is under 18, taxable interest in his name is added to the income of one parent, apart from the first ₹1,500 a year per child, so putting money in his name does not lower the family's tax. Tax law calls this clubbing: under section 99 (the old section 64(1A)) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, a child's income counts as a parent's.

Where the parents are married, the son's interest goes to whichever of them had the larger total income before it was added. Where they are not, it goes to the parent who maintains him that tax year. Income from the child's own work, skill or talent, or of a child with a disability under section 154, is not clubbed.

Take a son's post office RD that earns an assumed ₹4,000 of interest in a tax year. ₹1,500 is exempt. The other ₹2,500 is added to the income of the parent who earns more (where the parents are married), and taxed at that parent's slab rate. After the son turns 18, the interest is his own income.

Interest on NSC, KVP, RD, TD and MIS is taxed under income from other sources at slab rate. A post office may deduct TDS (tax deducted at source) on interest above ₹50,000 a year, or ₹1 lakh for senior citizens. PPF payouts are exempt, so clubbing adds nothing taxable for PPF.

Deductions under section 123 (the old Section 80C) are old regime only. They cover PPF, NSC and the 5-year post office time deposit, within ₹1,50,000 in total. KVP gets none. Close a 5-year post office time deposit within five years and the amount you take out is added to your income for that year.

What happens when your son turns 18?

His accounts become his to run once he submits a fresh application and his own KYC (know-your-customer identity papers). For PPF, the account is operated by the depositor, who gives a revised application with KYC documents and a signature attested by the guardian. For the savings account, RD, TD, MIS, NSC and KVP, a minor's account is converted by a fresh account opening form and KYC.

From his 18th birthday, interest is his own income, taxed in his hands. Mutual funds work differently: a folio in a child's name freezes at 18 until the child completes KYC, as this guide to mutual funds in a minor's name explains.

Can a guardian invest in a minor's name on Koshex?

A guardian can invest in a minor's name on Koshex; the guardian uses the app and makes the decisions. Koshex also offers fixed deposits. You can look at mutual funds and fixed deposits on the site.