Find out what today's ₹1 lakh will be worth in 10, 20, or 30 years — and how much you need to invest to maintain your purchasing power against India's inflation.
📚 Understand This Calculator
Inflation: your money's silent weight-loss problem
Your ₹100 note will always say ₹100 on it. But what it can buy quietly shrinks every year. In 2014, ₹100 bought you a decent restaurant meal. Today, that same meal costs ₹180–200. Your note didn't change. The world around it did. This invisible shrinking is inflation — and it's the biggest risk most Indian investors completely ignore.
🇮🇳 Real-Life Example
Sunita is proud of her ₹10 lakh savings account earning 3.5% interest. She feels "safe." Let's see what actually happens at 6% inflation:
📌 After Year 1: Account shows ₹10,35,000. Feels great. But prices rose 6%, so she now needs ₹10,60,000 to buy what ₹10 lakh bought last year. She's actually ₹25,000 poorer in real terms.
📌 After 10 years: Her account shows ₹14.1 lakh. But ₹10 lakh in 2024 rupees is worth only ₹5.58 lakh of 2034 purchasing power. Her "safe" ₹10 lakh silently became worth half.
Her neighbour Arjun invested the same ₹10 lakh in a balanced mutual fund at 10% CAGR. After 10 years: ₹25.9 lakh — 2.5× more real wealth.
💡 The Key Insight
India's average CPI inflation is around 5–6% per year. Any investment earning below 6% is not growing your wealth — it's shrinking it. Savings accounts (3.5%), most RDs (6%), and conservative debt funds barely keep up. To actually build wealth, you need equity returns of 10–14% CAGR over the long term.
⚠️ Common Mistake
Planning retirement with "today's expenses." If you spend ₹60,000/month today and plan to retire in 25 years, you will actually need ₹2.6 lakh/month at retirement (at 6% inflation). Not accounting for this inflation gap is the #1 reason Indian retirees run out of money.
📉 Inflation Details
Enter today's cost of anything — education, rent, lifestyle, goals.
India's CPI inflation averages 5–7%. Education inflation is ~10–12%.
The expected annual return from your investments (mutual funds, etc.).
📉
See what inflation steals
Enter today's amount and we'll show you its future cost, real value erosion, and the SIP needed to stay ahead.
Future Cost (Inflation-Adjusted)
—
What it will cost in the future
Purchasing Power Loss
—
Value eroded by inflation
Real Value of ₹ Today
—
What today's money buys in future
Monthly SIP Needed
—
To accumulate this corpus
Lumpsum Needed Today
—
Invest now to reach the goal
India Inflation Reference Rates
Category
Historical Avg Inflation
Recommended Rate to Use
General (CPI)
5.5% – 7%
6%
Education
10% – 12%
10%
Healthcare
8% – 10%
9%
Food & Groceries
5% – 8%
7%
Real Estate
6% – 9%
8%
Lifestyle / Discretionary
4% – 6%
6%
Frequently Asked Questions
What is India's current inflation rate? ▾
India's CPI inflation has averaged around 5.5–6.5% over the past decade, with periods of higher inflation (7–8%) during 2022–23. For long-term financial planning, using 6% as the base inflation rate is conservative and appropriate. For education goals, use 10–12% to be safe.
How does inflation affect my mutual fund returns? ▾
Your real return from a mutual fund is the nominal return minus inflation. If your fund gives 12% CAGR and inflation is 6%, your real return is approximately 5.66% — not 6%. This means your actual increase in purchasing power is about half your stated return. Always think in real returns when planning long-term goals.
How much SIP do I need to beat inflation? ▾
To preserve purchasing power, your investment return must exceed inflation. At 6% inflation and 12% equity fund returns, your real return is ~5.66% per year. Use our SIP calculator to find the exact monthly amount needed to reach your inflation-adjusted goal corpus.