SBI Green Rupee Term Deposit: A Complete Guide to Rates, Eligibility, Insurance and Tax Treatment

Understanding the SBI Green Rupee Term Deposit

India's push toward sustainable finance received a regulatory anchor when the Reserve Bank of India issued its Framework for Acceptance of Green Deposits on 11 April 2023. This framework was designed to encourage regulated financial institutions to channel mobilised funds toward environmentally eligible activities, thereby strengthening the country's green-finance ecosystem.

In alignment with this regulatory mandate, State Bank of India introduced its SBI Green Rupee Term Deposit (SGRTD) — a dedicated deposit product that operates within the RBI's green-deposit framework. From a depositor's standpoint, the SGRTD is structurally a conventional bank term deposit. The "green" character relates to how the bank allocates and manages the proceeds at its end — covering project selection, governance, monitoring, reporting, and external verification — rather than giving the depositor any direct stake or ownership in the underlying green projects.

Important distinction: The green label does not transform this deposit into a market-linked product or any form of equity exposure. The depositor's experience remains that of a standard fixed-tenure bank deposit with a contracted interest rate, nomination rights, premature withdrawal provisions, and applicable tax obligations.

The use-of-proceeds layer operates entirely at the bank's institutional level, governed by its Board-approved financing framework under the RBI guidelines. For the depositor, the core commercial terms — tenure, interest rate locked on the booking date, maturity instructions, and TDS applicability — remain those of an ordinary term deposit.

Current Interest Rates and Available Tenures

SBI's SGRTD page, last updated on 1 May 2026, offers three fixed tenures:

• 1,111 days
• 1,777 days
• 2,222 days

The interest rates applicable across retail and bulk deposit slabs, as displayed by SBI, are as follows:

Key Points About These Rates

• The retail slab on SBI's product page is defined as deposits from ₹1.01 crore to below ₹3 crore.
• The bulk slab covers deposits of ₹3 crore and above.
• Rates are subject to prospective revision; the rate applicable on the booking date, as reflected in the deposit receipt, is what governs any individual placement.
• The notably elevated senior-citizen rate shown for the 2,222-day retail tenor — at 6.95% compared to 6.20%/6.70% for the other two tenures — warrants direct verification from SBI's live quotation at the time of placement. Depositors should not extrapolate this figure across scenarios without confirming it afresh.

Eligibility, Deposit Amount and Accepted Forms

Who Can Invest?

SBI confirms the following categories as eligible:

• Resident individuals
• Non-individual customers (entities, firms, organisations, etc.)
• NRI customers — through NRO deposits and NRE deposits

All deposits under SGRTD are accepted exclusively in Indian rupees.

Deposit Amount

• Minimum deposit: ₹1,000
• Maximum deposit: No product-level cap is stated by SBI, though applicable rate slabs and the bank's prevailing rules will determine the relevant rate tier.

Accepted Product Forms

SBI accepts SGRTD only under the following structures:

1. Term Deposit (TDR)
2. Special Term Deposit (STDR)

The following deposit forms are explicitly excluded from SGRTD:

• MOD (Multi Option Deposit)
• Tax Saving Deposit
• Annuity Deposit
• Recurring Deposit
• Other similar variants

An existing ordinary TDR cannot be converted into an SGRTD. A fresh eligible placement is required.

Interest Payout and Compounding Considerations

The effective financial outcome for the depositor is shaped by the chosen structure:

• A periodic-interest Term Deposit disburses interest at regular intervals during the tenure, generating ongoing cash flow.
• A cumulative Special Term Deposit retains interest within the deposit and pays the total at maturity, resulting in a different effective maturity value due to compounding.