Calculate your interior loan EMI
Amount, rate and tenure. Processing fee and insurance are shown separately.
How this calculator works
- Monthly rate r = annual rate ÷ 1,200. A 13.5% annual rate is 0.01125 per month.
- EMI = P × r × (1+r)n ÷ ((1+r)n − 1). This is the reducing-balance formula used by every Indian bank and NBFC.
- Total repaid = EMI × n. Total interest is that figure less the principal.
- Processing fee and insurance are calculated on the sanctioned amount and shown separately, because they are usually deducted from disbursal rather than added to the EMI.
- Effective cost reports the total outgo as a percentage over the cash price of the part you are financing — the number that actually matters when deciding whether to borrow. If you are financing only a slice of the project, scale it against the whole before panicking.
- A zero-interest input is handled as simple division, so the tool does not break on a 0% promotional offer.
| Tenure | EMI at 13.5% | Total interest | Added to the sum borrowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 months | ₹71,642 | ₹59,699 | 7.5% |
| 24 months | ₹38,222 | ₹1.17 L | 14.7% |
| 36 months | ₹27,148 | ₹1.77 L | 22.2% |
| 48 months | ₹21,661 | ₹2.40 L | 30.0% |
| 60 months | ₹18,408 | ₹3.04 L | 38.1% |
A longer tenure lowers the EMI and raises the total cost. The right tenure is the shortest one whose EMI you can pay without touching the emergency fund.
Design and build under one accountable roof
Worked example — the default loan
| Step | Arithmetic | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly rate | 13.5 ÷ 1,200 | 0.01125 |
| (1 + r)^36 | 1.01125^36 | 1.4959 |
| Numerator | 8,00,000 × 0.01125 × 1.4959 | ₹13,463 |
| Denominator | 1.4959 − 1 | 0.4959 |
| EMI | numerator ÷ denominator | ₹27,148 |
| Total repaid | ₹27,148 × 36 | ₹9.77 L |
| Total interest | total − principal | ₹1.77 L |
| Processing fee at 1.5% | 8,00,000 × 0.015 | ₹12,000 |
| Total outgo | repaid + fee | ₹9.89 L |
Cheaper ways to fund an interior project
Before taking an unsecured interior loan at 13.5%, ask your home-loan bank about a top-up. If you have been servicing a home loan for two or three years, most lenders will extend a top-up at 50 to 100 basis points above your home-loan rate — so 9.5 to 10.5% rather than 13.5 — over the remaining tenure of the home loan. On ₹8 lakh that difference is worth ₹80,000 to ₹1.2 lakh over three years, and the paperwork is lighter because the bank already holds your documents.
The second route is staging the project against your own cash flow. Interiors split cleanly into phases — kitchen and wardrobes now, living-room joinery and the second bedroom in eight months — and a phased project in a large flat costs perhaps 8–12% more in mobilisation than doing it at once. That is cheaper than 22% of interest. It does not work in a small flat, where the trades overlap too much, which is why we advise against phasing a 2BHK.
What we would avoid is contractor-arranged finance quoted at a flat rate. A 7% flat rate over three years is roughly 13% reducing, and the two numbers are presented as if they were comparable. Ask for the annual percentage rate on a reducing balance, in writing, and put it into this calculator before agreeing to anything.
A last practical note on documentation. Lenders assessing an interior loan almost always ask for the contractor’s quotation or agreement, and some disburse directly to the contractor in tranches against it. That is worth knowing before you negotiate a payment schedule, because a bank tranche and a milestone payment have to line up — a lender releasing on its own calendar while the contractor invoices on milestones puts the gap on you.
One structural point about EMIs that catches people out: the early instalments are mostly interest. On this loan the first month's EMI of about ₹27,150 contains roughly ₹9,000 of interest and ₹18,150 of principal. By month thirty the proportions have reversed. That is why prepaying early saves far more than prepaying late, and why a two-year loan you can service is better than a five-year loan you find comfortable.
Nothing on this page is a Greenbox rate. It is bank arithmetic, published in full so you can check it, and the interest rates are the market ones you will be quoted rather than anything we set. For what the work itself costs — ₹2,610 to ₹3,910 per sq ft of carpet area in Mumbai at premium finish, on homes we have built and billed as at October 2026 — use the interior design cost calculator. The ₹8 lakh this page opens on is a typical slice of such a project, not the whole of one.
What this tool does not cover
- Your actual sanctioned rate, which depends on credit score, income and the lender's own policy.
- Prepayment and foreclosure charges, typically 2–5% on a personal loan and often nil on a home-loan top-up.
- GST on the processing fee, which is charged at 18% on the fee itself.
- Moratorium or step-up structures, which change the amortisation.
- Tax treatment. A home-loan top-up used for house improvement may carry interest deduction under Section 24(b) — take advice, this is not it.
- For scheduling payments to the contractor rather than to the bank, use the payment schedule calculator.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
What is the EMI on an ₹8 lakh interior loan?+
About ₹27,148 a month over 36 months at 13.5% per annum, with total interest of roughly ₹1.77 lakh. Over 60 months the EMI falls to about ₹18,400 but the total interest rises to ₹3.04 lakh.
What interest rate do interior loans carry in India?+
Eleven to eighteen per cent per annum for an unsecured personal loan, depending on credit score and lender. A top-up on an existing home loan is usually 9 to 10.5%, which is why it is worth asking your home-loan bank before going anywhere else.
What is the difference between a flat rate and a reducing rate?+
A flat rate charges interest on the original principal for the whole tenure; a reducing rate charges it on the outstanding balance, which falls every month. A 7% flat rate is roughly equivalent to 13% reducing. Always convert before comparing two offers.
Should I finance my interiors or wait and save?+
If the flat is unoccupied and you are paying rent elsewhere, financing usually wins, because the interest is offset by moving in sooner. If you are already living in the flat, phasing the project against your own cash flow is normally cheaper than 22% of interest over three years.
Is loan insurance compulsory?+
No. It is frequently presented as though it were, and it is added to the loan amount so you pay interest on it too. Decline it unless you actively want term cover, in which case a standalone term policy is usually cheaper.