What time is it in India?
GMT+5:30 · Asia/Kolkata
Back to IndiaNow in New Delhi
GMT+5:30 UTC+05:30
UTC+05:30
all yearIndia Standard Time
All of India, from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh and out to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, keeps Indian Standard Time, 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of UTC. The country stretches 2,933 kilometres from east to west and could span two zones, yet the whole country has kept one clock since independence, and there is no summer time. The time zone database files the zone as Asia/Kolkata.
Today
Daylight in New Delhi today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 06:13First light 05:49
- Sunset
- 18:09Last light 18:32
- Day length
- 11 h 56 min−2 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 12:11Sun at 59°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in India and elsewhere
The two rows are the same day, hour for hour. Pick a city, then an hour, and the line between the rows marks the office hours both sides share.
Time difference
How far India is from other places
Neighbours
- AfghanistanKabul−1 h
- BangladeshDhaka+0:30 h
- BhutanThimphu+0:30 h
- ChinaBeijing+2:30 h
- IndonesiaJakarta+1:30 h
- Sri LankaColomboSame time
- MyanmarNaypyidaw+1 h
- NepalKathmandu+0:15 h
- PakistanIslamabad−0:30 h
Around the world
- London−4:30 h
- New York−9:30 h
- Los Angeles−12:30 h
- São Paulo−8:30 h
- Moscow−2:30 h
- Dubai−1:30 h
- Tokyo+3:30 h
- Sydney+4:30 h
Clock changes
India does not change its clocks
India has kept its clocks at 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of UTC every year since 1946. The one sustained exception was War Time during the Second World War, when clocks under Indian Standard Time were advanced by an hour from 1 September 1942 to 15 October 1945; the time zone database carries the hour forward in 1941 and 1942 before holding it through 1943 and 1944. Brief summer time to save energy is also reported during the war with China in 1962 and the wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, but no source on file gives dates for it and the time zone database records no change in those years. Standard time itself arrived on 1 January 1906, set on the meridian of 82.5° east, just east of Allahabad, although Calcutta kept its own time until 1948 and Bombay until 1955.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in New Delhi
- Sunrise
- 06:13
- Sunset
- 18:09
- Daylight
- 11 h 56 min
- Change
- −2 min
Longest day of 2026: 16 June, 13 h 58 min.
Computed for 28.61, 77.21 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 12-hour
- Short date
- 5/3/26
- Long date
- 5 मार्च 2026
- Week starts
- Sunday
- Zone names
- GMT+5:30
- Time zone database
- Kolkata
History
How the clocks in India got here
- 1890
- To 1905.Local mean time, UTC+05:21, before the standard zone.
- 1906
- To 1940.UTC+05:30 all year, no summer time.
- 1941
- UTC+05:30 in winter, UTC+06:30 in summer time.
- 1942
- UTC+05:30 in winter, UTC+06:30 in summer time.
- 1943
- To 1944.Summer time kept through the winter: UTC+06:30 all year.
- 1945
- UTC+05:30 in winter, UTC+06:30 in summer time.
- 1946
- To today.UTC+05:30 all year, no summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Asia/Kolkata, as the build machine carries it.
Common questions
Questions about the time in India
What time zone is India in?
Indian Standard Time, abbreviated IST, which runs 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of UTC. It covers every state and union territory, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands included, and the time zone database lists it as Asia/Kolkata, named after the city that was the most populous in the zone when the database entry was set up. The official time signal comes from the Time and Frequency Standards Laboratory in New Delhi.
Does India change its clocks for daylight saving?
No. The clocks stay on the same offset all year and no change is scheduled. The last clock change the time zone database holds for India came on 15 October 1945, when War Time ended. A proposal made by politicians in Assam in 2014 for a schedule an hour ahead of IST had still not been approved by the central government in 2026.
Why does India use only one time zone?
Because a single meridian was chosen for the whole of British India and kept after independence. The line of 82.5° east, which passes just east of Allahabad, lies roughly halfway across a country that runs from about 68° to 97° east. Geographically that spread covers two zones. After 1947 the government made IST the official time everywhere, and Bombay gave up its separate local time in 1955.
What is tea garden time in Assam?
Known as chaibagan or bagan time, it is a local clock kept on tea estates in Assam one hour ahead of IST. The Plantations Labour Act of 1951 lets the union and state governments set the local time for particular industrial areas, which is what allows it. For every official purpose, IST remains the only time in use.
Did India have more than one time before IST?
Yes. Madras Time, set up in 1802 by John Goldingham at 5 hours 21 minutes 14 seconds ahead of UTC, was adopted widely by the railways. Bombay and Calcutta kept local times of their own, at 4 hours 51 minutes and at 5 hours 53 minutes 20 seconds ahead. Port Blair and Rangoon had their own mean times too. Indian Standard Time replaced them officially on 1 January 1906 and applied to Ceylon as well.
What was War Time in India?
During the Second World War clocks under Indian Standard Time were put forward by one hour, to 6 hours 30 minutes ahead of UTC. The measure ran from 1 September 1942 to 15 October 1945. The time zone database also records the hour in parts of 1941 and 1942, and it holds the country at the advanced offset for the whole of 1943 and 1944. Since the war ended the offset has not moved.