Converter · ET → IST (UTC+5:30)

EST to IST

India Standard Time is 10 hours 30 minutes ahead of Eastern Time while ET is on EST, and 9 hours 30 minutes ahead while ET is on EDT: 9:00 AM EST is 7:30 PM IST, and 9:00 AM EDT is 6:30 PM IST.

Now in New York
--:-- ET
Now in India
--:-- IST
Difference now
+10.5 h
Gap changes next (ET side)
Second Sunday in March

How many hours ahead is India of Eastern Time?

IST is UTC+5:30 all year. Eastern Time is UTC−5 (EST) from early November to mid-March and UTC−4 (EDT) the rest of the year, so India is 10½ hours ahead in the northern winter and 9½ hours ahead in summer.

India has no daylight saving time, so every change in the gap comes from the American side. On Sunday, March 14, 2027, it shrinks to 9½ hours; on Sunday, November 7, 2027, it grows back to 10½. The live Eastern Time clock shows which offset New York is on today, and the UTC offset guide explains how offsets like +5:30 are written.

The half hour is what trips up mental arithmetic: a whole hour in New York is always half past in India. Watch the date as well. From 1:30 PM EST (2:30 PM EDT) onward, India is already on the next calendar day.

Offset line from UTC−6 to UTC+7: India Standard Time at UTC+5:30 is 10 h 30 min ahead of EST (UTC−5) and 9 h 30 min ahead of EDT (UTC−4); the old Bombay Time (UTC+4:51) and Calcutta Time (UTC+5:53) sat on either side of it 10 h 30 min while ET is on EST 9 h 30 min while ET is on EDT UTC−5UTC−4UTC IST Bombay Time UTC+4:51 (to 1955) Calcutta Time UTC+5:53 (to 1948)
IST sits between the two colonial city times it replaced.

EST to IST conversion table

Read the middle column from early November to mid-March and the right-hand column from mid-March to early November. India's clocks are the same in both; only New York's move.

Eastern Time to India Standard Time, hour by hour. Highlighted: Eastern morning hours (8–10 AM) that still land before 9:00 PM in India in both seasons.
Eastern (ET)IST while ET is on EST (early Nov – mid Mar)IST while ET is on EDT (mid Mar – early Nov)
12:00 AM10:30 AM9:30 AM
1:00 AM11:30 AM10:30 AM
2:00 AM12:30 PM11:30 AM
3:00 AM1:30 PM12:30 PM
4:00 AM2:30 PM1:30 PM
5:00 AM3:30 PM2:30 PM
6:00 AM4:30 PM3:30 PM
7:00 AM5:30 PM4:30 PM
8:00 AM6:30 PM5:30 PM
9:00 AM7:30 PM6:30 PM
10:00 AM8:30 PM7:30 PM
11:00 AM9:30 PM8:30 PM
12:00 PM10:30 PM9:30 PM
1:00 PM11:30 PM10:30 PM
2:00 PM12:30 AM (next day)11:30 PM
3:00 PM1:30 AM (next day)12:30 AM (next day)
4:00 PM2:30 AM (next day)1:30 AM (next day)
5:00 PM3:30 AM (next day)2:30 AM (next day)
6:00 PM4:30 AM (next day)3:30 AM (next day)
7:00 PM5:30 AM (next day)4:30 AM (next day)
8:00 PM6:30 AM (next day)5:30 AM (next day)
9:00 PM7:30 AM (next day)6:30 AM (next day)
10:00 PM8:30 AM (next day)7:30 AM (next day)
11:00 PM9:30 AM (next day)8:30 AM (next day)

Convert any Eastern time to India Standard Time

The converter applies US daylight saving for the date you pick. India's side never moves. Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh are in the list for comparison.

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When should US and India teams meet?

No hour falls inside a 9-to-5 day in both New York and India, so teams choose between two compromises:

The March and November switches catch distributed teams out because only one side moves. A standing 9:00 AM ET stand-up drops from 7:30 PM to 6:30 PM in Bengaluru on the second Sunday in March; if the meeting is anchored to IST instead, it moves an hour later in New York. Decide which city owns the time and say so in the invite.

The working weeks barely touch at the edges. Monday 9:00 AM in India is still Sunday 10:30 PM EST (11:30 PM EDT) in New York, and Friday 6:00 PM IST is only 7:30 AM EST on Friday. From California there is no overlap at all: 8:00 AM PST is 9:30 PM IST. The full converter lets you test a three-city slot on any date.

Why is India's time zone offset by half an hour?

Time zones are nominally 15° of longitude wide, one hour each. India stretches across about 29°, from the Rann of Kutch to Arunachal Pradesh, so no whole-hour meridian fits it well. The British administration chose 82°30′E, which lies between the old Bombay Time (UTC+4:51) and Calcutta Time (UTC+5:53:20) and divides into exactly 5½ hours (82.5 ÷ 15 = 5.5). The meridian passes near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, where on June 21 the sun stands highest at about 12:02 PM IST.

IST took effect on 1 January 1906, but the city times did not die quickly: Calcutta kept its own time until 1948 and Bombay until 1955. During the Second World War clocks were advanced to UTC+6:30 for most of 1942–1945; since then India has stayed on UTC+5:30. Most of Asia uses whole-hour offsets instead, as the EST to JST and EST to China Time pages show.

One clock across 29° has a cost. On June 21 the sun rises at about 4:16 AM IST in Dibrugarh, Assam, and at 6:06 AM in Bhuj, Gujarat; it sets at 6:09 PM and 7:40 PM respectively. Assam's tea estates have long kept their own "chaibagan" (tea garden) time, an hour ahead of IST. Proposals for a second zone for the north-east come up regularly, including a 2017 government-backed study, but none has been adopted.

Which IST? India, Ireland and Israel

Three unrelated zones use the abbreviation IST:

An invite that just says "3:00 PM IST" will be read three different ways in Dublin, Tel Aviv and Mumbai. Name the city, give the offset (UTC+5:30), or use the IANA zone Asia/Kolkata, which phones and calendars use for all of India.

Frequently asked questions

Is the time the same in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata?

Yes. All of India uses one zone, UTC+5:30, with no regional variation and no daylight saving. Software calls it Asia/Kolkata; older systems may still list Asia/Calcutta.

What is 9:00 PM IST in Eastern Time?

In winter it is 10:30 AM EST; in summer, 11:30 AM EDT, both on the same day. Going from India to New York, subtract 9½ or 10½ hours.

Do Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan share India's time?

Only Sri Lanka, which returned to UTC+5:30 in 2006. Nepal is UTC+5:45, 15 minutes ahead of India; Pakistan is UTC+5, half an hour behind; Bangladesh is UTC+6.

How far ahead of Chicago and California is India?

11½ hours ahead of Central Standard Time and 10½ hours ahead of Central Daylight Time; 13½ hours ahead of PST and 12½ hours ahead of PDT. All US zones change on the same Sundays, so these gaps move in step with the Eastern one.

Why does my phone show GMT+5:30 instead of IST?

Many systems have no short English name for India's zone and print the offset instead. GMT+5:30, UTC+5:30 and IST all mean the same time.

Explore

EST to JST

Tokyo, 14 hours ahead and usually already on tomorrow.

EST to GMT

London and Dublin, including Irish summer time.