The Centre on August 30 announced steps to strengthen the use of a single Indian Standard Time (IST) across the country, following the notification of the Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026 by the Department of Consumer Affairs on August 27. The rules were published in the Official Gazette on August 29.
The rules provide for IST to be used as the common time reference for legal, administrative, commercial and other official purposes across India. They are to come into force 180 days after their publication in the Gazette.
The move is part of the Centre’s “One Nation, One Time” initiative. The government is also working on infrastructure to provide a precise and synchronised Indian time reference for sectors such as banking, telecommunications, power, transportation and digital systems.
However, the question of having more than one time zone in India is not new.
India has one official time for the entire country, although there is a considerable difference in sunrise and sunset between its eastern and western parts.
The difference is more noticeable in the Northeast, which lies farther east. Nagaland and the other northeastern states see daylight earlier than many parts of the country, but continue to follow Indian Standard Time, UTC+5:30.
In 2002, the Department of Science and Technology constituted a High-Level Committee to examine the possibility of having two time zones in the country.
The committee considered the difference in sunrise and sunset in the eastern states and recommended retaining one standard time for the country. It then suggested advancing working hours in the eastern states instead.
According to government records, the committee cited that difficulties could arise in coordinating different timings for the railways, civil aviation and communication systems, besides the costs involved in implementing a second time zone.
The issue was examined again in 2012 when the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, prepared a study for the Bureau of Energy Efficiency on options for adjusting Indian Standard Time and saving energy.
The study looked at the possibility of changing the time system, including its implications for the Northeast. Discussions on the proposal remained inconclusive, with the government saying further studies were required on its social impact in the Northeast and the cost implications for railways and utility providers.
In 2018, the CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (NPL), India’s national timekeeping laboratory, proposed a two-time-zone system.
Under the proposal, most of the country would continue with IST-I at UTC+5:30, while the Northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands would follow IST-II, which would be one hour ahead.
The proposed dividing line was around 89°522 E, near the West Bengal-Assam border. The NPL proposal estimated that the arrangement could result in annual electricity savings of around 20 million kWh.
The proposal was still not accepted.
In a Lok Sabha reply in December 2018, the Centre said the matter had been examined by a High-Level Committee and that the committee had recommended against two time zones “for strategic reasons”.
The reply did not explain what those strategic reasons were. Earlier government records had referred to operational difficulties involving the railways, civil aviation and communications, as well as the costs involved in introducing a second time zone.
The system has therefore remained unchanged.