ELSS lets each purchase out three years after you make it. PPF allows a loan from the third financial year and a partial withdrawal from the seventh, with the full balance after 15 years, while NPS pays out at 60 or retirement (or after 15 years in an account you open yourself), with narrow withdrawals before. For money with a date, NPS vs PPF vs ELSS turns on when, not on tax: six yearly ₹1,50,000 instalments for a down payment due in October 2032 would leave ₹4,50,000 (at cost) free in ELSS, about ₹2,48,490 in PPF and nothing in NPS for a home owner.

What are the lock-in and withdrawal rules for each?

Each clock starts differently: PPF's year 1 is the financial year you open it.

ELSS PPF NPS (Tier 1)
Main exit 3 years after each purchase; each SIP instalment has its own clock 15 years after the end of the opening year At 60 or retirement, or after 15 years in an account you open yourself: up to 80% in cash, at least 20% buying a pension; a corpus up to ₹8 lakh can all come out, and up to ₹12 lakh needs no pension
Before that Nothing Loan in years 3 to 6, up to 25% of an earlier balance; PPF partial withdrawal from year 7, up to 50% of the lower of two year-end balances, once a year After 3 years, up to 25% of your own contributions for listed needs, up to four times before 60; or leave early, with at least 80% buying a pension

Listed NPS needs include children's higher education or marriage, medical treatment, and a house once, if you own none other than an ancestral one; a corpus of ₹5 lakh or less can come out in full on early exit. PFRDA notified these rules on 12 December 2025, as the NPS guide sets out. Only 60% is tax-free at exit, and NPS withdrawal at 60 works out the tax.

Gayatri's flat in 2032: what each lets out

Gayatri, 34, earns ₹32 lakh CTC and files in the old regime, which her rent and home-loan interest make cheaper for her. Her loan is on a finished flat in her home town, so its principal, about ₹70,000 in FY 2026-27, counts under section 80C of the 1961 Act (section 123 of the 2025 Act). Her own PF, 12% of the wage ceiling (₹15,000 until mid-September 2026, ₹25,000 after), adds about ₹30,000 in FY 2026-27, leaving ₹50,000 of the ₹1,50,000 limit.

She sets aside ₹1,50,000 a year for a bigger flat where she works, with the down payment due in October 2032; prepaying her home loan instead is a separate test. Suppose all of it went into one product by 5 November each year, 2026 to 2031: ₹9,00,000 in six instalments.

Six yearly ₹1,50,000 in Free by October 2032 Still locked then
ELSS The 2026, 2027 and 2028 purchases, ₹4,50,000 at cost The 2029 purchase until November 2032; the last until November 2034
PPF About ₹2,48,490, from April 2032 About ₹8,59,030, with one withdrawal a year after
NPS Nothing for the flat All of it; leaving early frees at most 20%

The ELSS lock-in runs per purchase, so only money at least three years old is free: half of her ₹9,00,000. ELSS holds at least 80% in shares. The goal-based investing guide puts money needed in three to seven years in a blend of equity and debt, and the purchases she cannot sell are the ones she cannot move out of shares as the date nears.

A first PPF deposit by 5 November 2026 makes FY 2026-27 year 1 and FY 2032-33 year 7. If 7.1% (October to December 2026) held throughout, the balance would be about ₹4,96,990 on 31 March 2029 and ₹11,07,520 on 31 March 2032. The withdrawal limit is half the lower of those two, about ₹2,48,490, as the PPF guide explains.

NPS is shut for this goal. She owns the home-town flat, so the NPS partial withdrawal for a house is closed to her. Once her corpus passes ₹5 lakh, leaving early sends at least 80% into a pension, and an account she opens herself reaches normal exit only in late 2041.

What if she had an older PPF account, or no house?

PPF's clock runs from the opening year, not from each deposit: an account Gayatri opened in FY 2019-20 is in its eighth year, so in FY 2032-33 she could take half the lower of its 2029 and 2032 year-end balances, old savings included. Owning no house, she could take up to 25% of her own NPS contributions once for this flat: ₹2,25,000 of ₹9,00,000.

Does the tax saving change the answer?

Barely. At 31.2% (30% plus cess), only ₹50,000 of her yearly ₹1,50,000 saves tax, once proved to her employer, ₹15,600 whichever of the three takes it; NPS alone takes a further ₹50,000 under section 80CCD(1B) of the 1961 Act, saving another ₹15,600, in exchange for money locked until exit. Own NPS under section 80CCD(1) of that Act shares the ₹1,50,000, and her 80C room shrinks each year as her PF and loan principal rise.

Dhi maps your ELSS, PPF and NPS to the goals they are meant for and answers, from your own numbers, when the money in each can come out. Dhi nudges when something needs attention, never mis-sells and earns no commissions.

Frequently asked questions

Nothing happens on its own: the units stay invested in the same fund until you sell or switch them, on any working day. Long-term gains above ₹1.25 lakh a year, across all your equity funds and shares, are taxed at 12.5% plus cess, a rule in force since 23 July 2024.
No. Early closure, allowed only after five years from the end of the opening year, is limited to a life-threatening illness in the family, higher education, or becoming an NRI. A partial withdrawal from the seventh financial year needs no reason, though, so it can go towards a down payment, once a year and within its limit.
No on both counts. A partial withdrawal from the seventh year is tax-free, like PPF interest and maturity, and is never paid back; it only lowers the balance that earns interest from then on. A loan in years 3 to 6 is different: it must be repaid within 36 months at 1% a year, or the outstanding amount is charged 6% a year from the month after the loan was taken, and no partial withdrawal is allowed until it is repaid.

This is general information for salaried individuals in India, not personalised financial advice.