What is the EMI for common home loan amounts?
Your monthly EMI equals the EMI per ₹1 lakh multiplied by the number of lakhs in your loan. The table below gives the per-lakh figure for three illustrative rates and four tenures. If your rate falls between two columns, your EMI falls between the two figures.
Also, the rows below answer the most common amount-and-tenure questions at the illustrative 9% rate. Each EMI is rounded to the nearest rupee, and the total payable is that EMI multiplied by the number of months. The per-lakh method can differ from these figures by a few rupees because of rounding. These totals cover principal and interest only. Fees, insurance and other charges are extra, and the Key Fact Statement (KFS) shows the full cost of an actual loan, including the all-inclusive APR.
"EMI for a ₹20 lakh home" and "EMI for a ₹20 lakh loan" are different questions. A lender finances only part of the property's value, and you pay the rest yourself. For a home priced at ₹20 lakh, the loan can be at most ₹18 lakh (90% at that loan size). So, you need at least ₹2 lakh as a down payment, plus stamp duty and registration. At the illustrative 9% over 20 years, an ₹18 lakh loan has an EMI of ₹16,195, total interest of ₹20,86,800 and a total payable of ₹38,86,800. This total covers principal and interest only. Fees, insurance and other charges are extra. The lender's key facts summary shows the full cost.
How is a home loan EMI calculated, and a 30-second check for any figure
Banks, NBFCs and housing finance companies generally calculate a home loan EMI on the reducing balance. Each month, interest is charged only on the principal still outstanding, and the rest of the EMI repays principal. The formula is:
- P is the loan amount;
- r is the monthly rate: annual rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100;
- n is the tenure in months.
The EMI stays flat while its make-up changes. Early on, the balance is large, so most of the instalment goes to interest. As the balance shrinks, the interest part falls and the principal part grows by the same amount.
Here is the ₹10 lakh loan at an illustrative 9% over 10 years, worked step by step:
- r = 9 ÷ 12 ÷ 100 = 0.0075.
- n = 10 × 12 = 120.
- (1.0075)^120 ≈ 2.4514.
- EMI = 10,00,000 × 0.0075 × 2.4514 ÷ (2.4514 − 1) = 7,500 × 1.6890 ≈ ₹12,668.
Each input moves the EMI in a predictable direction. A bigger loan amount raises the EMI in direct proportion. A higher rate raises the EMI, while a longer tenure lowers the EMI but raises the total interest.
Below two checks take half a minute and catch most wrong figures, whether they come from a website, an app or your own spreadsheet:
- Check 1. EMI × n gives the total payable, and the total payable minus the principal gives the total interest. For the example: ₹12,668 × 120 = ₹15,20,160, of which ₹5,20,160 is interest.
- Check 2. The first month's interest is P × r, and the EMI must be larger than that. For the example: ₹10,00,000 × 0.0075 = ₹7,500, so the first EMI repays ₹5,168 of principal. If an EMI is at or below P × r, the loan would never be repaid.
Published EMI figures tend to go wrong in a few familiar ways:
- The annual rate used as the monthly rate. With r = 0.09 instead of 0.0075, a ₹10 lakh loan shows an EMI of about ₹90,000 instead of ₹12,668. Check 2 exposes this at once.
- (1 + r)^(n − 1) in the denominator instead of (1 + r)^n. The same loan then shows about ₹12,829, roughly ₹161 too high, which is small enough to look reasonable.
- Repeated rows in a table, where two different tenures or rates show the same EMI. A longer tenure must show a lower EMI, and a higher rate a higher one.
What does a home loan EMI calculator not include?
A home loan EMI calculator shows only the instalment on the principal at the stated rate. The real cost of buying with a loan is higher than EMI × months, because the result leaves out:
- the processing fee;
- GST on that fee and on other fees;
- insurance financed into the loan, which raises the principal and therefore the EMI;
- legal and valuation charges;
- stamp duty and registration on the property;
- broken-period interest for the days between disbursal and the start of the first EMI cycle.
The full cost of a loan, with all of these charges added, is stated in the Key Fact Statement (KFS). Compare loans on the all-inclusive Annual Percentage Rate (APR) shown in the Key Fact Statement, not on the EMI alone.
GST applies to fees, not to the EMI itself. The EMI is principal plus interest.
Before you sign, the lender gives you a Key Fact Statement (KFS) and a sanction letter, the formal document that confirms the loan offer and its terms. These documents state the actual rate, every charge, and the terms on which a floating rate is reset. Use these figures, not a calculator result, to judge what the loan will really cost.
Which inputs determine a home loan EMI?
You can pick the amount, rate and tenure you'd like, but it is the lender who decides how far each one can go. The amount is limited twice. Your income limits it through the share of income the lender allows for EMIs. The property's value limits it through the cap on the share of the price the lender will finance. Both limits are covered in the sections below.
The rate can be fixed, floating or hybrid. A fixed rate stays the same for the period agreed. A floating rate is linked to a benchmark that moves with the repo rate set by RBI, so your rate changes when the benchmark is reset. A hybrid rate is fixed for an initial period and floating after that.
The tenure is counted in months and capped by the lender, with your age as a further limit. At the same amount and rate, stretching the tenure lowers the EMI but sharply raises the interest you pay. Here is ₹1 lakh at an illustrative 9%:
Going from 20 to 30 years cuts the EMI by about 11%. Over the life of the loan, the interest rises by about two-thirds.
Some lenders offer step-up repayment, where the EMI starts lower and rises over time, and step-down repayment, where it starts higher and falls. In both cases the standard formula above no longer describes your schedule, so ask the lender for the full repayment table.
How much home loan can you get based on your salary?
To find your maximum home loan on salary, multiply your monthly take-home income by the lender's cap on all monthly obligations. Subtract your existing EMIs, then divide by the EMI per ₹1 lakh. Each lender sets its own cap. "One-third of income" is a rule of thumb, not a rule.
Take a ₹70,000 monthly take-home income, a hypothetical cap of 50% (an assumption for the arithmetic, not any lender's rule), an illustrative 9% rate and a 20-year tenure:
- Room for EMIs: ₹70,000 × 50% = ₹35,000.
- Existing EMIs: none.
- Loan: ₹35,000 ÷ ₹899.73 ≈ 38.9 lakh, so about ₹38.9 lakh.
A single existing EMI removes part of that figure. With an ₹8,000 two-wheeler EMI already running, the room falls to ₹27,000 and the loan to about ₹30 lakh. That one EMI costs about ₹8.9 lakh of home loan eligibility. With a one-third cap instead of 50%, the same income with no other EMIs supports about ₹25.9 lakh.
Run the method backwards to find the salary needed for a ₹40 lakh loan. At an illustrative 9% over 20 years, the EMI is ₹35,989 (total interest ₹46,37,360, total payable ₹86,37,360, before fees and charges). Under the hypothetical 50% cap with no other EMIs, the take-home income needed is ₹35,989 ÷ 50% ≈ ₹72,000 a month. Under a one-third cap, it is about ₹1,08,000. The answer depends as much on the lender's cap as on the rate.
Eligibility for a ₹70 lakh loan depends on two separate tests, and you must pass both:
- Income test. At an illustrative 9% over 20 years, the EMI is ₹62,981 (total interest ₹81,15,440, total payable ₹1,51,15,440, before fees and charges). Under the hypothetical 50% cap with no other EMIs, that needs about ₹1,26,000 a month in take-home income.
- Property-value test. A ₹70 lakh loan can finance at most 80% of the property, so the property must be worth at least ₹87.5 lakh. The next section covers this test.
Borrowing for the down payment can backfire. A personal loan taken to cover the down payment adds an EMI that the lender counts against your income. On the ₹70,000 example, a ₹10,000 personal loan EMI cuts the home loan from about ₹38.9 lakh to about ₹27.8 lakh. Each new loan application also adds an enquiry to your credit report, and enquiries can affect the rate you are offered.
How much of the property value can a bank or NBFC finance?
The maximum share of the property value that may be financed depends on the loan amount, applicable regulatory limits, the property valuation and the bank or NBFC’s internal policy. The percentages below are the upper limit for each income slab. They do not mean you will get the maximum loan.
The borrower generally funds the down payment, stamp duty and registration charges. These costs are usually not included when the loan-to-value ratio is calculated, subject to the applicable rules and loan terms. Stamp duty and registration rates vary by state, so check the current rates where the property is located.
For a ₹70 lakh loan, the cap is 80%. The minimum property value is ₹70 lakh ÷ 0.8 = ₹87.5 lakh, and the down payment is at least ₹17.5 lakh. Before the loan is disbursed, the cash you need is ₹17.5 lakh plus stamp duty and registration on ₹87.5 lakh, along with the lender's fees.
The slab boundaries create a jump. A ₹30 lakh loan needs a property worth at least ₹33.33 lakh. A ₹31 lakh loan falls into the 80% slab and needs at least ₹38.75 lakh. If the lender's valuation of the property comes in below the agreed price, the cap is applied to the lower figure, and the cash you need goes up.
What do lenders check before sanctioning a home loan?
Before a lender says yes to a home loan, it looks at two things: whether you can comfortably keep up with the EMIs, and the property itself. Practice varies by lender, but the checks usually cover the same areas:
- Income and how stable it is. For salaried borrowers, lenders look at salary slips, the employer and how long you have been employed. For self-employed borrowers, they look at tax returns and business accounts over several years. Gig and freelance income is usually assessed from bank statements showing regular credits, and irregular months make the income harder to count.
- Existing EMIs. Every running loan and its EMI is deducted from the income the lender counts.
- Credit report and score. The lender pulls your report from one or more credit bureaus to see your repayment history, current loans and recent enquiries.
- Age. Your age at application, and the age you will be at the end of the tenure, limit how long you can borrow for.
- Property documents. The lender checks the title, building approvals and, for a new project, the builder's papers. It also has the property valued.
- Co-applicant. A co-applicant's income can be added to yours. The lender also checks the co-applicant's EMIs and credit report, and the co-applicant shares responsibility for repaying the loan.
How does age affect the home loan tenure and EMI?
Lenders usually want a home loan to end by an age they set, so the longest tenure is not available to every borrower. Someone applying at 35 may be offered fewer years than someone at 25, and fewer years means a higher EMI. The age limit varies by lender.
For a ₹40 lakh loan at an illustrative 9%, compare a 30-year tenure with a tenure capped at 20 years by age:
The age cap raises the EMI by ₹3,804 a month and lowers the total interest by about ₹29.5 lakh. On the salary method above, the higher EMI also means a smaller loan for the same income.
How do you read a home loan repayment schedule?
Each row of a repayment schedule covers one EMI. Read it from left to right: the opening balance, the interest on that balance, the principal repaid, and the closing balance, which becomes the next month's opening balance. Here are the first two rows of the ₹50 lakh loan at an illustrative 9% over 20 years:
In the early years of a home loan, most of your EMI goes towards interest. Only in the last stretch does the principal part become bigger.
At 9% interest, this turns around when about 93 months (a little under 8 years) are left on the loan, whatever the total tenure. On a 20-year loan, interest is the bigger part of your EMI for roughly the first 12 years, and the principal takes over from around month 148. On a 30-year loan, interest is the bigger part for about the first 22 years.
The practical consequence is about timing. Decisions to prepay, refinance or switch lender have the biggest effect in the early years, while most of each EMI is still going to interest.
How can prepayment reduce the home loan tenure and interest?
Any amount you pay above the EMI goes straight to principal. The base loan for all the examples below is ₹40 lakh at an illustrative 9% over 20 years, with an EMI of ₹35,989, total interest of ₹46,37,360 and a total payable of ₹86,37,360, before fees and charges.
Two extra EMIs a year. Paying 14 EMIs a year instead of 12 adds ₹71,978 a year. Modelled as an extra one-sixth of an EMI each month, the loan ends after about 168 months instead of 240, roughly six years early. Total interest falls to about ₹30.4 lakh, a saving of about ₹15.9 lakh. Paying the extra as two lump sums gives a close but not identical result.
Clearing a 20-year loan in 10 years. Take the 10-year EMI for the same principal. For ₹40 lakh at 9%, it is ₹50,670. The difference from the current EMI, ₹14,681, is what you add each month. Total interest falls to ₹20,80,400, about ₹25.6 lakh less than over 20 years. If you are already a few years in, use the outstanding balance and the months left to your target.
Reducing the tenure or the EMI after a part-payment. Suppose you pay ₹5 lakh after two years, when about ₹38.43 lakh is outstanding and 216 months remain:
Reducing the tenure saves about three times as much. The unchanged EMI keeps cutting principal faster for the rest of the loan.
Timing matters as much as the option you choose. The same ₹5 lakh paid after 15 years, with five years left and the tenure reduced, saves only about ₹2.3 lakh of interest, against about ₹15.3 lakh when paid after two years.
For floating-rate loans granted to individuals for non-business purposes, regulated banks and NBFCs generally cannot levy prepayment charges. For loans sanctioned or renewed on or after 1 January 2026, the RBI’s 2025 directions apply irrespective of whether the prepayment is partial or full and without a minimum lock-in period. Fixed-rate loans and business-purpose loans may follow different rules, so check the sanction letter and loan agreement.
Prepaying is not always the best use of spare money. Consider the following before deciding:
- if you have no emergency fund, money locked into the loan is hard to get back when a medical bill or job gap arrives;
- if you have costlier debt, such as a personal loan or a credit card balance, clearing it first usually saves more;
- if you file under the old tax regime, part of the interest you would save may have been reducing your tax, so the net saving is smaller. Under the new regime, this trade-off generally does not apply to a home you live in.
What happens when a floating home loan rate goes up?
When the benchmark behind a floating rate rises, the lender absorbs the increase in one of three ways: a higher EMI, a longer tenure, or both. Extending the tenure usually costs more total interest than raising the EMI. Take the ₹40 lakh loan after two years, with ₹38.43 lakh outstanding and 216 months left, when the rate moves from an illustrative 9% to 9.5%:
If your lender raises the interest rate, you can lose far more by keeping your EMI the same than by paying a higher EMI.
If you agree to pay ₹1,209 more every month, you pay about ₹2.6 lakh extra in interest over the loan. If you keep the EMI the same, your loan runs about 21 months longer and you pay about ₹7.5 lakh extra in interest. That is nearly ₹4.9 lakh more than the first option.
The damage grows with every further rate rise, because a bigger share of your EMI goes to interest and less is left to reduce your loan.
When your rate is reset, ask the lender two things: which option applies to your loan, and whether a part-payment can bring the tenure back to the original end date. Changes in charges apply only from the date they take effect, and the lender has to announce them in advance. If the lender does not answer your request, write to its grievance redressal officer. If that does not resolve it, you can complain through RBI's complaint system.
How does home loan repayment work after disbursal?
The first EMI usually falls on the lender's fixed EMI date in the month after disbursal. For the days between disbursal and the start of the first EMI cycle, the lender charges broken-period interest, either added to the first instalment or collected separately. On ₹40 lakh at an illustrative 9%, 15 days of broken-period interest on a 365-day count is about ₹14,795.
For a home under construction, the lender releases the loan in parts as the building work progresses. You can usually pay in one of two ways, until the last part is released:
- Pre-EMI: interest only on the amount disbursed so far. With ₹20 lakh disbursed at 9%, that is ₹15,000 a month. Over 24 months of construction, it adds up to ₹3.6 lakh, all of it interest, and the full EMI and the tenure start only after the final disbursal.
- Full EMI from the start: a full EMI on the disbursed amount. On ₹20 lakh over 20 years, that is ₹17,995 a month, which repays about ₹78,000 of principal over the same 24 months. The monthly payment is higher during construction, but the loan ends sooner.
A missed EMI may attract penal charges and may be reported to credit bureaus, which can affect the borrower’s credit profile and future borrowing.
Expert Note
A lower EMI does not necessarily mean a cheaper home loan. A longer tenure can reduce the monthly instalment while substantially increasing total interest. Compare the EMI, total repayment, applicable fees, loan-to-value ratio and the impact of rate resets before choosing a loan structure.
