Liquid funds in India

44 live funds in the Liquid category, ordered by 5-year return, highest first; Aditya Birla Sun Life Liquid Fund leads. Funds younger than five years follow by name. Returns are for the plan each fund's page leads with, Direct where the fund has one, to each fund's latest NAV, the newest of them on 27 Oct 2026; 3 and 5 year returns are a year, compounded.

Category median, 1 year
+6.43%Middle of 39 funds
Category median, 3 years
+6.89%Middle of 35 funds
Category median, 5 years
+6.39%Middle of 33 funds

Liquid funds

Size is the average money the fund managed over its latest quarter. Cost is its yearly expense ratio.Filter them in the screener

NAV of 27 Oct 2026

Tax on liquid funds

Gains on units bought on or after 1 Apr 2023 are taxed at the income tax slab rate however long they are held; gains on units bought earlier are taxed at 12.5% when held over 24 months, or over 12 months for a listed fund such as an ETF, and at the slab rate otherwise.

Rules in force from 23 Jul 2024, checked 27 Oct 2026. Surcharge and cess are not included.

About liquid funds in India

Liquid funds in India are debt mutual funds that invest only in debt and money market securities maturing in up to 91 days. SEBI sets the category. The funds hold short-dated paper, so their NAV (net asset value, the price of one unit) moves in small steps.

What SEBI requires

A liquid fund may hold only debt and money market securities with a residual maturity of up to 91 days. Residual maturity is the time left until a security is repaid, not its original term. A fund must also keep at least 20% of its net assets in liquid assets: cash, government securities, treasury bills and repo on government securities.

Securities are valued at market prices. SEBI removed the older practice of spreading a bond's gain evenly over its remaining days (amortisation).

Exit load and redemption

A graded exit load applies to units redeemed within 7 days of purchase. It starts at 0.0070% on day 1 and falls by 0.0005 percentage points a day to 0.0065% on day 2, 0.0060% on day 3, and so on, reaching nil from day 7.

Redemption proceeds normally arrive on the next working day. Some funds also offer instant access to up to ₹50,000 or 90% of the folio value, whichever is lower, per investor per scheme per day, for resident individuals.

How the page ranks funds

The page lists every live fund in the category with its latest NAV, returns over 1, 3 and 5 years, size and cost. Each fund is shown by its lead plan, which is the Direct plan where one exists. The 3-year and 5-year returns are annualised, meaning compounded per year.

Funds are sorted by 5-year return, highest first. Funds with less than five years of history follow, sorted by name, and a dash marks a period without enough history. Size is the average money the fund managed over its latest quarter, and cost is its yearly expense ratio. The category medians above the table are the middle return of the funds that have that period.

Liquid, overnight and money market funds

Overnight funds lend for a single day, so their maturity limit is 1 day. Liquid funds go up to 91 days, and money market funds up to 1 year. Ultra short term funds (formerly ultra short duration) are set by duration instead, a Macaulay duration of 3 to 6 months.

Longer maturity means more exposure to interest-rate moves and to the issuer's credit.

Tax on liquid fund gains

For units bought on or after 1 Apr 2023, gains on a debt fund are taxed at the holder's income tax slab rate whatever the holding period, with no indexation.