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EMI Calculator

Equated Monthly Instalment for home, car and personal loans.

EMI stands for Equated Monthly Instalment: the fixed amount you pay your lender every month until a loan is repaid. Home loans, car loans and personal loans in India are almost always repaid this way. Each EMI covers that month's interest on the outstanding balance, and the rest reduces the balance itself.

This calculator works out your EMI from the loan amount, the annual interest rate and the tenure in months. It also shows the total interest and the total amount you will repay, which is often the more useful number. A lower EMI over a longer tenure feels easier each month but can cost lakhs more overall.

Try your loan at two or three tenures, for example 240 months and 180 months, and compare the total interest before you decide.

By DailyCalc Editorial Team · Updated · 7-min read · 3 sources cited

● EMI calculator

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Tip: 20 years = 240 months · 15 years = 180 · 5 years = 60.

EMI formula (reducing balance)

EMI = P × r × (1+r)ⁿ ÷ ((1+r)ⁿ − 1), r = annual/12/100, n = months

Identical to amortised-loan maths with monthly rests. At zero rate, EMI = P ÷ n. Floating-rate loans re-compute EMI (or tenure) when r resets; fixed-rate loans hold EMI constant. Total interest = EMI×n − P; principal share rises each month as interest share falls.

  • P: Principal disbursed (loan minus down-payment). Add processing fees only if capitalised.
  • r: Monthly reducing-balance rate. 9% annual → 0.0075 monthly.
  • n: Tenure in months (20y = 240). Prepayments effectively cut n.

Worked example: ₹25,00,000 at 8.5% for 20 years

Classic Indian home-loan check:

  1. r = 0.085 ÷ 12 = 0.0070833; n = 240.
  2. (1+r)ⁿ ≈ 5.4412.
  3. EMI = 25,00,000 × 0.0070833 × 5.4412 ÷ 4.4412 ≈ ₹21,696 (₹21,695.58 exactly).
  4. Total: 21,695.58 × 240 = ₹52,06,939; interest ≈ ₹27,06,939.
  5. Shorten to 15y (180m): EMI ≈ ₹24,618 (+₹2,923/mo) but interest ≈ ₹19,31,328 — saves ~₹7.76 lakh.

Result: EMI ≈ ₹21,696/mo — total ≈ ₹52.07L — interest ≈ ₹27.07L over 240 months.

How to use this EMI calculator

Three inputs lenders themselves use.

Step 1: Enter principal

Loan after down-payment. For property, exclude stamp duty/registration unless financed.

Step 2: Enter annual rate

Reducing-balance rate (e.g. 8.5). For floating loans, run best/base/worst cases (±1–2 points).

Step 3: Enter months

Years × 12. Common: car 36–84, personal 12–72, home 120–360.

Step 4: Stress-test

Can you afford EMI at +2 points? Is total interest acceptable? Try prepaying 5% yearly as a shorter n.

When to use it

Common borrowing decisions this calculator helps with:

Home loans

A ₹50 lakh loan at 8.5% over 20 years has an EMI of about ₹43,391. Lenders usually want your total EMIs to stay within roughly 40–50% of your monthly take-home pay, and staying well below that leaves room for emergencies.

Car loans

Borrowing £20,000 at 6.9% over 48 months costs about £478 a month. Compare that with a lease, which is cheaper each month but leaves you without a car at the end.

Personal loans

₹5 lakh at 12% over 36 months is an EMI of about ₹16,607. Processing fees of 1–2% plus GST add to the real cost, so include them when comparing offers.

Education loans

Interest usually builds up during the study period. ₹10 lakh at 9% left for two years grows to about ₹11.96 lakh before repayments start, so calculate the EMI on that higher figure.

Balance transfers

Moving ₹20 lakh with 15 years left from 11% to 8.5% saves about ₹5.4 lakh in interest, even after a 0.5% transfer fee. Run both rates through the calculator to see your own figure.

Tips to pay less interest

Small changes that make a big difference over a long loan:

  • Paying one extra EMI a year on a ₹25 lakh, 20-year loan at 8.5% clears it about three years early.
  • Prepay early if you can. ₹1 lakh prepaid in year 2 saves more than three times as much interest as the same ₹1 lakh prepaid in year 12.
  • When your floating rate falls, ask the bank to shorten the tenure rather than reduce the EMI. You keep paying the same amount but save far more interest.
  • Keep an emergency fund of around six months' EMIs before putting spare money into prepayments.
  • Negotiate the spread over the benchmark rate, not just the headline rate. A 0.25% lower spread applies for the whole life of the loan.

Common mistakes

Errors that make loans more expensive than they need to be:

Looking only at the EMI

On ₹25 lakh at 8.5%, a 20-year EMI of ₹21,696 looks easier than ₹24,618 over 15 years, but it costs about ₹7.76 lakh more in interest.

Ignoring rate rises

If a floating rate goes from 8.5% to 10.5%, the EMI on a 20-year loan rises by about 15%, or the bank extends your tenure. Check you could afford that before you borrow.

Mixing up flat and reducing rates

A '5% flat' rate on a car loan works out to roughly 9–10% on a reducing balance. Always compare reducing-balance rates.

Borrowing for too long

Financing the full on-road price of a car over seven years means paying a lot of interest on something that loses value quickly. Five years or less is usually wiser.

Sources & references

The formula, thresholds and guidance on this page were checked against these primary sources. Written and reviewed by DailyCalc Editorial Team; last updated . Spotted an error? Tell us.

  1. Reserve Bank of India — Reset of floating interest rate on EMI-based personal loans (circular, 18 Aug 2023)
  2. Investopedia — Amortization explained
  3. U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Loan interest rate vs APR

Disclaimer: Illustrative only — not financial advice. Actual EMI depends on rest frequency, fees, reset clauses and lender rounding. Confirm with your sanction letter.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

EMI = P·r(1+r)ⁿ/((1+r)ⁿ−1) with monthly r and n months. Example: ₹25L/8.5%/240m → ~₹21,696/mo. At 0%, EMI = principal ÷ months.