Best ELSS (tax-saving) funds

35 funds match this screen, ranked on 5-year return. Which tax-saving funds have the best long-term record?

Criteria: ELSS funds, ranked on 5-year return.

ELSS carries a 3-year lock-in, which is the shortest of any 80C option — and it is the only one that invests in equity. Because the money is locked anyway, the 5-year record is the right lens; a 1-year number describes a period you could not have acted on.

Best ELSS (tax-saving) funds, ranked by 5-year return

#
1Motilal Oswal ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - Growth OptionPlatinumELSS+18.32%+19.25%56%-37.7%+23.65%₹4,784 Cr0.97%
2SBI Long Term Advantage Fund - Series V - Direct Plan - GrowthSilverELSS+17.11%+20.42%78%-35.8%+21.88%₹379 Cr1.17%
3SBI ELSS Tax Saver FUND - DIRECT PLAN -GROWTHSilverELSS+16.54%+17.80%51%-38.2%+16.49%₹32,300 Cr1.26%
4quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Growth Option - Direct PlanPlatinumELSS+16.53%+21.78%62%-36.1%+17.33%₹13,382 Cr1.21%
5HDFC ELSS Tax saver - Growth Option - Direct PlanSilverELSS+16.10%+15.71%41%-44.1%+15.43%₹16,095 Cr1.19%
6ITI ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - Growth OptionGoldELSS+14.83%+20.83%87%-38.5%+19.47%₹455 Cr0.90%
7Tata ELSS Fund-Growth-Direct PlanPlatinumELSS+14.14%+16.37%37%-36.8%+14.75%₹4,664 Cr0.89%
8SBI Long Term Advantage Fund - Series VI - Direct Plan - GrowthELSS+13.73%+21.08%81%-36.1%+11.58%₹259 Cr1.27%
9Edelweiss ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan-Growth OptionPlatinumELSS+13.70%+15.92%37%-36.8%+15.84%₹455 Cr0.92%
10Nippon India ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan Growth Plan - Growth OptionSilverELSS+13.59%+15.43%41%-51.9%+14.69%₹14,910 Cr1.11%
11Franklin India ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct - GrowthSilverELSS+13.39%+17.21%48%-39.0%+13.39%₹6,239 Cr1.17%
12DSP ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - GrowthGoldELSS+13.34%+18.95%58%-37.2%+15.61%₹16,738 Cr0.92%
13Kotak ELSS Tax Saver Fund-Growth - DirectSilverELSS+13.34%+17.25%46%-36.4%+13.48%₹6,342 Cr0.81%
14BANDHAN ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - GrowthSilverELSS+13.15%+17.63%50%-42.6%+11.72%₹7,005 Cr0.95%
15Parag Parikh ELSS Tax Saver Fund- Direct GrowthBronzeELSS+13.13%+22.61%82%-29.5%+11.64%₹5,700 Cr0.65%
16BANK OF INDIA ELSS Tax Saver -Direct Plan- GrowthGoldELSS+13.03%+17.80%51%-31.7%+15.06%₹1,395 Cr1.06%
17Mirae Asset ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - GrowthSilverELSS+12.71%+18.98%64%-37.8%+14.47%₹26,373 Cr1.02%
18Union ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - Growth OptionSilverELSS+12.28%+14.06%31%-35.4%+12.80%₹861 Cr1.73%
19SBI Long Term Advantage Fund - Series IV - Direct Plan - GrowthELSS+12.12%+27.08%68%-34.4%+10.93%₹198 Cr1.16%
20CANARA ROBECO ELSS TAX SAVER - DIRECT PLAN - GROWTH OPTIONGoldELSS+11.93%+16.07%38%-34.3%+13.77%₹8,758 Cr0.70%
21ICICI Prudential ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - GrowthBronzeELSS+11.73%+15.58%37%-37.5%+13.28%₹14,292 Cr1.20%
22Mahindra Manulife ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan -GrowthBronzeELSS+11.49%+16.76%45%-35.9%+10.94%₹904 Cr1.10%
23Invesco India ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - GrowthGoldELSS+11.44%+16.47%41%-35.8%+14.30%₹2,699 Cr1.18%
24PGIM India ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - Growth OptionELSS+11.31%+15.38%36%-36.7%+10.62%₹718 Cr1.15%
25Quantum ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan Growth OptionELSS+11.01%+14.48%32%-39.6%+12.05%₹213 Cr0.95%
26LIC MF ELSS Tax Saver-Direct Plan-GrowthELSS+10.91%+14.90%24%-35.7%+11.72%₹1,030 Cr1.27%
27Aditya Birla Sun Life ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Growth - Direct PlanSilverELSS+9.67%+13.50%20%-35.1%+13.26%₹14,660 Cr1.06%
28UTI ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - Growth OptionELSS+9.32%+14.21%26%-35.1%+10.94%₹3,524 Cr1.02%
29Axis ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - Growth OptionBronzeELSS+8.15%+14.46%26%-33.5%+13.16%₹32,592 Cr1.06%
30BARODA BNP PARIBAS ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - Growth OptionGoldELSS—+19.67%79%-17.3%+17.81%₹917 Cr1.31%
31WhiteOak Capital ELSS Tax Saver Fund Direct Plan GrowthGoldELSS—+21.07%98%-16.4%+18.63%₹494 Cr0.87%
32Samco ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Direct Plan - Growth OptionELSS—+7.21%0%-29.6%+6.04%₹105 Cr1.94%
33HSBC ELSS Tax saver Fund - Direct GrowthGoldELSS—+19.05%76%-19.2%+18.35%₹4,115 Cr1.20%
34NAVI ELSS TAX SAVER NIFTY 50 INDEX FUND - DIRECT PLAN GROWTHELSS—+9.55%0%-15.5%+8.81%₹158 Cr0.25%
35NJ ELSS Tax Saver Scheme Direct GrowthSilverELSS———-22.8%+12.10%₹346 Cr0.67%

Badges are our own quality tiers — Platinum (top 10%), Gold (25%), Silver (50%), Bronze (75%) — scored within each sub-category, so they compare a fund with its peers and not with funds of a different type. “3Y typical” is the median annualised return across every 3-year holding period the fund has lived through, not a single 3-year figure; “3Y loss odds” is the share of those periods that ended down. “Beat peers” is the share in which it beat its category's median, and “worst fall” is its deepest peak-to-trough drop. Open a fund for the full distribution. Click any column heading to re-sort — including the fund name, which groups a house’s funds together. Funds with no value for a column sort last. Returns over 1 year are annualised (CAGR). Past performance does not indicate future returns. Eligibility: Direct plan, Growth option. Wound-up, suspended and distributing (IDCW/payout) variants are excluded. Distributing funds are matched by NAME as well as by option, because the option field is wrong on around 100 schemes.

For the full category view, see our main page for this category, which covers every fund in it rather than only those meeting this screen.