NRE FD Rates July 2026: This Bank Just Beat SBI and HDFC With a Surprising 6.75% Offer

For millions of Non-Resident Indians spread across the Gulf, North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, the Non-Resident External Fixed Deposit remains one of the simplest and safest ways to grow savings while keeping full flexibility to repatriate funds back to their country of residence. If you have been tracking where to park your foreign earnings this July, banks have been quietly revising their NRE FD rates over the past few months, and the differences between institutions are wide enough to matter. This comparison walks through the latest rates from six major lenders, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank, so that you can match your investment horizon with the bank offering the best return.

Why NRE Fixed Deposits Continue to Attract NRI Savings

Before getting into the numbers, it helps to understand why this instrument remains a favourite among the NRI community even as global interest rate cycles shift. An NRE FD is funded through foreign currency remitted from abroad and converted into Indian rupees at the time of deposit. The principal amount, along with the interest earned, is fully repatriable, meaning you can move the money back overseas without restriction. Just as importantly, the interest earned on an NRE deposit is exempt from tax in India under the Income Tax Act, which makes the effective post tax yield considerably more attractive than what many resident depositors receive on comparable domestic FDs.

Given that these deposits are typically held for medium to long durations, even a difference of twenty or thirty basis points between two banks can translate into a meaningful sum over a three or five year holding period, especially for larger deposit amounts. That is precisely why comparing rates across banks before committing your funds is worth the extra ten minutes of research.

State Bank of India: Steady Rates With a Special Push on Amrit Vrishti

As the country’s largest public sector lender, State Bank of India continues to be a natural first stop for NRIs due to its extensive branch network and long standing trust among the diaspora. The bank’s general NRE FD rates, effective from March 15, 2026, apply to deposits below three crore rupees and are structured as follows.

Tenor	Interest Rate (% p.a.)
1 year to less than 2 years	6.25%
444 days (Amrit Vrishti)	6.45%
2 years to less than 3 years	6.40%
3 years to less than 5 years	6.30%
5 years to 10 years	6.05%

The standout offering here is the Amrit Vrishti scheme, a special tenure deposit of 444 days that currently pays 6.45 percent, the highest rate across SBI’s entire NRE FD tenure ladder. What makes this scheme interesting is that it slots into a duration that is neither too short nor too long, giving depositors a middle ground between locking funds for a full year and committing for two years or more. For NRIs who want a slightly better return than the standard one to two year bracket without extending their commitment all the way to three years, this scheme has understandably become a popular choice this year. It is worth noting that SBI periodically revises this rate depending on liquidity conditions, so checking the current applicable rate directly with the bank or its NRI banking portal before booking is always advisable.

Bank of Baroda: The Highest Rate on Offer This Month

Among all the banks compared here, Bank of Baroda currently leads the pack with its 555 days Golden Goal Deposit Scheme, offering NRIs an interest rate of 6.75 percent per annum on deposits below three crore rupees. This is the single highest rate available across the six banks featured in this comparison, and it deserves a closer look.

Tenor	Interest Rate (% p.a.)
1 year	6.25%
Above 1 year to 400 days	6.25%
Above 400 days and up to 2 years (except 444 and 555 days)	6.25%
Above 2 years and up to 3 years	6.25%
Above 3 years and up to 5 years	6.30%
Above 5 years and up to 10 years	6.00%
bob Square Drive Deposit Scheme (444 days)	6.45%
bob Golden Goal Deposit Scheme (555 days)	6.75%

Bank of Baroda has structured its special tenure schemes almost identically to SBI’s approach, with a 444 days product mirroring the Amrit Vrishti concept, but it goes a step further with the 555 days Golden Goal scheme that commands an even higher rate. For NRIs comfortable locking their deposit for roughly eighteen months, this scheme currently offers the best standalone return among all the options listed in this comparison. The bank’s standard tenure buckets, spanning one year through ten years, remain fairly flat around 6.00 to 6.30 percent, which reinforces the point that the specially named schemes are where the real value lies this quarter.

Punjab National Bank: A Sharp Spike at 444 Days

Punjab National Bank revised its NRE FD rates effective June 1, 2026, and the update brought a similarly structured special tenure incentive. On its 444 days deposit, PNB is now offering 6.60 percent, its highest slab for deposits under three crore rupees.

Tenor	Interest Rate (% p.a.)
1 year	6.25%
Above 1 year to 389 days	6.30%
390 days	6.30%
391 days to 443 days	6.30%
444 days	6.60%
445 days to 665 days	6.30%
666 days	6.50%
667 days to 2 years	6.30%
Above 2 years to 3 years	6.30%
Above 3 years to 1203 days	6.35%
1204 days	6.30%
1205 days to 5 years	6.35%
Above 5 years to 10 years	6.00%

What is notable about PNB’s rate card is the granularity. The bank has carved out very specific single day tenures, 444 days and 666 days, both of which carry a visibly higher rate than the surrounding buckets. This is a common strategy among public sector banks this year, using numerologically appealing tenures such as 444 and 666 days to attract deposits into specific maturity windows that suit the bank’s own asset liability management needs. For a depositor, the practical takeaway is simple, if your investment horizon is flexible, choosing the 444 days tenure at PNB captures a meaningfully better rate than depositing for a flat one year or two year period.

HDFC Bank: Best Value in the Three to Five Year Range

Among the private sector banks, HDFC Bank’s NRE FD rates show a distinct pattern, the sweet spot for the best returns lies somewhere between three years and four years seven months, where the bank pays 6.50 percent, its top rate on offer.

Tenure	Interest Rate (% p.a.)
1 year to less than 15 months	6.25%
15 months to less than 18 months	6.35%
18 months to less than 21 months	6.45%
21 months to 2 years	6.45%
2 years 1 day to less than 2 years 11 months	6.45%
2 years 11 months (35 months)	6.45%
2 years 11 months 1 day to 3 years	6.45%
3 years 1 day to less than 4 years 7 months	6.50%
4 years 7 months (55 months)	6.40%
4 years 7 months 1 day to 5 years	6.40%
5 years 1 day to 10 years	6.15%

Unlike the public sector banks that concentrate their best rates in a narrow one to two year window, HDFC Bank rewards depositors who are willing to commit for a longer period. The rate curve rises steadily from 6.25 percent at the shortest tenure to 6.50 percent in the three year plus bracket, before tapering off again for tenures beyond five years. For NRIs planning long term financial goals such as funding a child’s overseas education in a few years or building a retirement corpus, this structure at HDFC Bank offers a reasonably competitive middle to long term option, particularly since the bank’s digital NRI banking platform is widely regarded as one of the more convenient in the country.

ICICI Bank: Consistent Rates From Three Years Onward

ICICI Bank has adopted a comparatively simpler rate structure, with its highest rate of 6.50 percent kicking in from three years and one day onward and holding steady across a wide range of tenures.

Tenure	Interest Rate (% p.a.)
1 year to less than 18 months	6.25%
18 months to 2 years	6.30%
2 years 1 day to 3 years	6.45%
3 years 1 day to 5 years	6.50%
5 years 1 day to 10 years	6.50%

The distinguishing feature of ICICI Bank’s rate card is consistency at the top end. Once you cross the three year mark, the rate remains at 6.50 percent all the way through ten years, unlike HDFC Bank, where the rate actually dips after four years seven months. This makes ICICI Bank a strong contender for NRIs who want a long duration deposit, say five years or more, without worrying about the return declining as the tenure stretches further. For anyone building a genuinely long term rupee denominated savings pool, this flat high rate structure beyond three years is arguably more useful than chasing a slightly higher rate in a narrow window elsewhere.

Axis Bank: Broad-Based High Rates Across Multiple Tenures

Axis Bank revised its rates effective July 7, 2026, and the update stands out for offering its peak rate of 6.50 percent across a wide swathe of tenures rather than a single specific bucket.

Tenure	Interest Rate (% p.a.)
1 year to 1 year 10 days	6.25%
1 year 11 days to less than 13 months	6.25%
13 months to less than 15 months	6.25%
15 months to less than 18 months	6.45%
18 months to less than 2 years	6.50%
2 years to less than 3 years	6.50%
3 years to less than 5 years	6.50%
5 years to 10 years	6.50%

This is arguably the most depositor friendly rate structure among all six banks compared here. From eighteen months all the way to ten years, Axis Bank pays a flat 6.50 percent, removing the guesswork of trying to time a specific tenure bucket to capture the best rate. For NRIs who are unsure exactly how long they want to lock their funds, anywhere from eighteen months to a decade, and simply want the confidence that they are getting the bank’s best available rate regardless of the exact duration chosen, Axis Bank’s structure offers genuine flexibility without sacrificing yield.

Side by Side Comparison of the Best Available Rate at Each Bank

To make the comparison easier to scan at a glance, here is a summary of the single highest NRE FD rate currently on offer at each bank, along with the tenure that unlocks it.

Bank	Highest Rate	Tenure for Highest Rate
Bank of Baroda	6.75%	555 days (Golden Goal Scheme)
Punjab National Bank	6.60%	444 days
HDFC Bank	6.50%	3 years 1 day to less than 4 years 7 months
ICICI Bank	6.50%	3 years 1 day to 10 years
Axis Bank	6.50%	18 months to 10 years
State Bank of India	6.45%	444 days (Amrit Vrishti)

Looking at this table, Bank of Baroda clearly leads on the headline rate this month, but the tenure that unlocks it, 555 days, is relatively short compared to the multi year commitments needed at the private banks to reach their top rates. Whether Bank of Baroda’s higher headline number is actually the better deal for you depends entirely on how long you are prepared to keep the money locked away and whether you have use for it again in roughly eighteen months.

How to Choose the Right Bank and Tenure for Your NRE FD

Rate comparison alone should not be the only factor guiding your decision. A few practical considerations are worth weighing before you transfer funds.

First, think about your liquidity needs. If there is a reasonable chance you will need access to these funds within the next two years, chasing a marginally higher rate on a five year deposit at a bank like ICICI or HDFC may not be worth the premature withdrawal penalty you would incur if plans change. In such cases, the shorter special tenure schemes at SBI, Bank of Baroda, or PNB, all clustered around the 444 to 555 days range, are a more sensible fit.

Second, consider the ease of managing the account from abroad. Public sector banks such as SBI, PNB, and Bank of Baroda have significantly expanded their NRI focused digital banking and video KYC facilities in recent years, but private banks like HDFC, ICICI, and Axis have historically had a head start in mobile app design and customer service responsiveness for NRI clients. If you anticipate needing to manage the deposit, renew it, or handle paperwork remotely without visiting India, this operational comfort can matter as much as a fractional rate difference.

Third, remember that these rates apply specifically to deposits below three crore rupees. If you are depositing a larger sum, banks typically offer different, often negotiated, rates for bulk deposits, so it is worth checking with your relationship manager separately rather than assuming the retail rate card applies.

Fourth, keep an eye on rate revision dates. As this comparison shows, SBI’s rates are effective from March 15, PNB’s from June 1, and Axis Bank’s from July 7, meaning these numbers change fairly frequently based on the Reserve Bank of India’s policy stance and each bank’s own liquidity position. A rate that looks attractive today could be revised within a few months, so if you are planning to book a deposit, it makes sense to confirm the current rate directly with the bank at the time of booking rather than relying solely on rates published a few weeks earlier.

The Bigger Picture for NRI Depositors in July 2026

Taken together, these six banks paint a fairly clear picture of where the NRE FD market stands this July. Public sector banks are using specially branded short to medium tenure schemes, such as SBI’s Amrit Vrishti, Bank of Baroda’s Golden Goal, and PNB’s 444 and 666 day products, to offer the most competitive rates in the twelve to twenty month range. Private banks, on the other hand, tend to reward depositors who commit for three years or longer, with Axis Bank standing out for maintaining its top rate across the widest range of tenures.

For NRIs deciding where to place their savings this month, the right answer genuinely depends on your own time horizon and comfort with locking funds away. Someone looking for a quick eighteen month parking spot for foreign earnings will likely find Bank of Baroda’s 555 days scheme or PNB’s 444 days product hard to beat. Someone planning a genuinely long term rupee savings strategy stretching five years or beyond may find better overall value in ICICI Bank or Axis Bank’s flat rate structure that does not taper off at longer durations.

As always with fixed deposit decisions, it is worth cross verifying the exact prevailing rate on the bank’s official NRI banking page or by speaking with your bank’s NRI services desk before making a final commitment, since rates in this segment have shown a tendency to move every few weeks as banks recalibrate to changing liquidity conditions and deposit growth targets.