₹5,000 SIP for 3 Years
What an ₹5,000 monthly SIP actually grows to over 3 years, at four different return rates, not one optimistic guess.
Quick answer
An ₹5,000 monthly SIP held for 3 years grows to roughly ₹2,17,538 if it earns 12% a year. You would have invested ₹1,80,000 of your own money, so about ₹37,538 of that total is growth, 1.21 times what you put in. At a more conservative 8% the same SIP reaches about ₹2,04,029, which is why the rate you assume matters more than any other input.
Estimated corpus at 12%
₹2,17,538
₹1,80,000 invested · ₹37,538 growth · 1.21x
₹5,000 SIP for 3 years at different returns
The return rate is the one input nobody can know in advance, so here is the whole range rather than a single figure. Your invested amount stays ₹1,80,000 in every row, only the growth changes.
| Annual return | Final corpus | Growth | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8% | ₹2,04,029 | ₹24,029 | 1.13x |
| 10% | ₹2,10,650 | ₹30,650 | 1.17x |
| 12% (shown above) | ₹2,17,538 | ₹37,538 | 1.21x |
| 15% | ₹2,28,397 | ₹48,397 | 1.27x |
What waiting costs you
This is the number that actually changes behaviour, and almost nobody publishes it. Same ₹5,000 a month, same 12% return, same 3-year finish line, you just start later.
Delaying by 3 years costs about ₹2,17,538, far more than the ₹1,80,000 of instalments you skipped. The gap is the compounding those early years would have done, and it cannot be made up later by investing more.
Change the numbers yourself
Set your own amount, rate and duration.
Your investment
Equity funds historically returned 10-14%. Use 10-12% for large-cap planning.
Increase SIP by this % each year. 10% matches typical salary hikes. Set 0 for flat SIP.
Projected value
₹50.46L
₹50,45,760
Before you rely on this figure
The projection assumes you never miss an instalment, the return is steady, and you do not withdraw along the way. Real investing is none of those things. Treat ₹2,17,538 as the shape of the outcome, not a figure to plan a commitment around.
Two things also reduce what reaches you. The fund’s expense ratio is deducted before the return you see, so a fund charging 1.5% a year needs to earn that much more just to match a cheaper one. And gains are taxable when you redeem, see capital gains and the capital gains calculator.
If your income will rise over these 3 years, a step-up SIP reaches a meaningfully larger corpus for very little extra strain. And if you are working backwards from a target amount instead of a monthly one, the goal SIP calculator tells you the instalment you need. For how a SIP works at all, start with our SIP explainer or the guide on SIP vs lump sum.
Frequently asked questions
How much will I get from an ₹5,000 SIP in 3 years?+
At an assumed 12% annual return, about ₹2,17,538, against ₹1,80,000 invested. The honest range matters though: at 8% it is roughly ₹2,04,029 and at 15% roughly ₹2,28,397. Nobody can tell you which you will get.
Is 12% a realistic return to assume?+
It is a common planning assumption for Indian equity funds over long periods, not a promise or a guarantee. Actual returns are not smooth: a period that averages 12% will still contain years with double-digit losses. If you are planning something you cannot afford to miss, run the numbers at 8% or 10% instead and treat anything above that as upside.
How much of the ₹2,17,538 is my own money?+
₹1,80,000 is your own contribution and ₹37,538 is growth. Over 3 years, growth is 17% of the final figure. That proportion rises sharply with time, which is the entire argument for starting early rather than investing more.
What if I stop the SIP partway through?+
The units you already bought stay invested and keep compounding, but the instalments you skip are gone from the calculation permanently. Stopping during a market fall is the most expensive version of this, because those are precisely the months when your fixed amount buys the most units.
Will I have to pay tax on the maturity amount?+
You pay tax on the gains when you redeem, not on the full amount, and equity fund gains held over a year are taxed as long-term capital gains. Our capital gains calculator works out the figure for your own holding, and the rules are summarised in our capital gains glossary entry.
Should I increase the SIP amount each year instead?+
Usually yes, and it changes the outcome substantially. A step-up SIP that rises with your salary reaches a far larger corpus than a flat one for very little extra pain, since each increase comes out of a raise rather than your current budget. Our step-up SIP calculator shows the difference for your own numbers.
Is an ₹5,000 SIP for 3 years better than a lump sum?+
A lump sum you already hold is exposed to growth for the whole period, so on paper it wins: the ₹1,80,000 you would pay in over 3 years would grow to roughly ₹2,52,887 at 12% if every rupee of it were invested today, against ₹2,17,538 through the SIP. The comparison is unfair though, because almost nobody has ₹1,80,000 sitting idle. A SIP matches how salaries arrive and spreads your purchase price across expensive and cheap months, so the ₹2,17,538 figure is the one that reflects a real plan.
What monthly amount would double this 3-year corpus?+
Exactly twice the instalment: ₹10,000 a month instead of ₹5,000 produces about ₹4,35,076 over the same 3 years at 12%, because the projection scales in a straight line with the amount you invest. Time does not behave that way. Doubling the horizon rather than the instalment produces far more than double, which is why an extra few years usually beats an extra few thousand rupees a month.
What if the market falls just before the 3 years are up?+
That is the single biggest risk in this projection and the figures above cannot show it, because they assume a smooth 12% every year. In reality most of the ₹2,17,538 is concentrated in the final years, so a sharp fall near the end costs far more than the same fall early on, when the balance was small. The usual defence is to stop treating the end date as fixed: if the money is needed on a set date, move it gradually out of equity in the years approaching it rather than redeeming everything on one day.
Is an ₹5,000 SIP for 3 years better than a fixed deposit?+
They are not the same kind of promise. A fixed deposit pays a rate agreed in advance and the capital is not exposed to markets, so you know the maturity figure the day you book it. The ₹2,17,538 here is a projection, not a contract: at 8% the same SIP produces about ₹2,04,029 and it can be lower still. Over 3 years equity has historically outpaced deposit rates, but not smoothly and not in every 3-year window. Money you cannot afford to see fall belongs in the deposit; money you can leave alone through bad years is what SIPs are for.