EMI calculator

The EMI calculator tells you the monthly instalment for a loan, the total interest you would pay over the loan, and the total you would repay. You give it three things: the amount, the number of months and the interest rate for a year. Optionally you can pick the loan type, and the rate box then starts from the rate that lenders on our panel publish for that loan.

The figures are an illustration. The lender's own repayment schedule, which comes with your sanction, is the record. Use this page to understand what the calculator does and how to read what it shows.

What you enter

• Loan amount in rupees, for example 5,00,000.
• Tenure in months, from 1 to 480. Five years is 60 months; twenty years is 240.
• Interest rate as a percentage for a year. It starts from the rate lenders publish for the loan type you pick, and you can change it to the rate you were quoted.

How it is worked out

An EMI (equated monthly instalment) is one fixed payment made on the same date every month. Each payment holds two parts: the interest for that month, charged on the balance you still owe, and a repayment of part of the amount borrowed. In the early months most of the payment is interest. As the balance falls, the interest part shrinks and the repayment part grows.

The instalment formula used here is the standard one for a loan where interest is charged each month on the balance still owed:

EMI = P x r x (1 + r)^n / ((1 + r)^n - 1)

• P is the amount borrowed (the principal), in rupees.
• r is the interest rate for one month: the yearly rate divided by 12, then by 100. A rate of 12 per cent a year is 0.01 a month.
• n is the number of monthly instalments (the tenure in months).
• ^ means "to the power of". (1 + r)^n is 1 + r multiplied by itself n times.

In words: the instalment is the amount borrowed, multiplied by the monthly rate, multiplied by the growth factor over the whole tenure, divided by that growth factor less one. The result is the single payment which, repeated n times, clears the loan exactly.

The calculator works in whole paise and rounds half-up to the nearest paisa, the same way the platform works out instalments elsewhere. The total paid is the instalment multiplied by the number of months. The total interest is the total paid less the amount borrowed.

Worked example

Take a loan of ₹10,00,000 over 60 months at an example rate of 10 per cent a year (an illustration, not a quote). The monthly rate r is 10 divided by 12 divided by 100, which is about 0.008333. The calculator gives:

Example: ₹10,00,000 for 60 months at an example rate of 10 per cent a year (illustration only)

Now change only the tenure. If you stretch the same loan to 120 months, the EMI drops to about ₹13,215, but the interest rises to about ₹5,85,800. A longer tenure lowers the monthly burden and raises the total cost. You can see the full comparison on the EMI by tenure calculator.

Reading your result

• Monthly EMI: the amount that leaves your account each month. Check it against what you can pay comfortably, not just what a lender may allow. The affordability calculator works from the other direction.
• Total interest: the cost of borrowing, before any fee. This is the number to compare when you are choosing between tenures.
• Total paid: the amount you will repay to the lender in all, excluding fees and charges the lender adds.
• The "At" line repeats the rate and tenure used, so you can confirm the sum is for the loan you meant.

If your loan has a floating rate, the EMI or the tenure can change when the lender's benchmark moves. The result here assumes one rate for the whole loan. The affordability calculator starts from the EMI you can pay instead.

Limits of this estimate

This calculator does not include the processing fee, stamp duty, insurance premium, valuation or legal charges, penal charges, or any fee on part payment or closing the loan. Each of these is set by the lender. It also assumes a regular monthly schedule that starts one month after disbursal; if your lender charges pre-EMI interest first, or starts the schedule on a different date, your first month will differ.

The lender decides whether to lend, the amount and the rate. Before you accept an offer, ask for the Key Fact Statement. It shows the annual percentage rate (APR), which brings the interest and the lender's fees into one yearly figure, so offers can be compared on the same basis. See how the Key Fact Statement and APR work. The calculator's total interest is lower than the real cost of a loan whenever fees apply.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading: personal loan basics, how to reduce your home loan EMI, flat against reducing rate, EMI, tenure, APR, interest rates, and the loan pages for home purchase, salaried personal loans and new car loans.