IST stands for India Standard Time. It is UTC+05:30 from UTC — 5.5 hours ahead of UTC — and it is used in Asia, in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai. IST is UTC+05:30 all year — India has never observed daylight saving, and the whole country uses this one offset.

Try the tool: UTC Converter — convert any time to and from IST, with the offset for the date you choose.

When is IST in effect?

IST is in effect all year. The places that use it do not observe daylight saving, so there is no summer abbreviation and no clock change to remember — the offset is UTC+05:30 in January and in July, and the abbreviation is the same in both. That is why IST is one of the easiest abbreviations to remember: it never changes. That stability is the reason these places are the easiest to schedule with: the gap between Mumbai and any other city changes only when the other city moves its clocks, never because of a change at this end. If you call the same city every week, the offset you learn is the offset all year.

What time is it when it is 12:00 IST?

City Local time when it is 12:00 IST (15 January 2026)
New York 1:30 am
London 6:30 am
Paris 7:30 am
Dubai 10:30 am
Mumbai 12:00 pm
Tokyo 3:30 pm
Sydney 5:30 pm
Los Angeles 10:30 pm

The table is worked out from the offsets: 12:00 IST is 6:30 am UTC, and each city's local time is UTC plus its own offset. The half-hour cities are the ones to watch: Mumbai is 30 minutes past the hour, because India is on UTC+05:30. The UTC converter does this calculation for any city and any date.

Does IST have a daylight saving counterpart?

No. IST is used all year, because the places that use it do not observe daylight saving — so there is no summer abbreviation to switch to and no clock change to remember. That is simpler, but it has a consequence: the gap between IST and a place that does observe daylight saving changes during the year. In winter, Mumbai and New York are 10.5 hours apart; in summer, when New York moves to EDT (UTC−04:00), the gap becomes 9.5 hours. The time zone converter applies the rules for the date you choose, so the gap is always right.

IST through the year

Whether IST is in effect in each month of 2026, for Mumbai:

Month IST in effect? Offset in effect
January Yes UTC+05:30
February Yes UTC+05:30
March Yes UTC+05:30
April Yes UTC+05:30
May Yes UTC+05:30
June Yes UTC+05:30
July Yes UTC+05:30
August Yes UTC+05:30
September Yes UTC+05:30
October Yes UTC+05:30
November Yes UTC+05:30
December Yes UTC+05:30

IST is in effect in every month, because the places that use it do not observe daylight saving — the offset is UTC+05:30 in January and in July, and there is no month in which another abbreviation takes over. The UTC converter shows the offset in effect on any date.

What time is it when it is 09:00 IST?

Nine in the morning is the start of the working day, so it is the time that matters for meetings. When it is 09:00 IST on 15 January 2026, the time in eight major cities is:

City Local time at 09:00 IST
New York 10:30 pm
London 3:30 am
Paris 4:30 am
Dubai 7:30 am
Mumbai 9:00 am
Tokyo 12:30 pm
Sydney 2:30 pm
Los Angeles 7:30 pm

IST and UTC, worked both ways

Converting from IST to UTC: subtract the offset. 09:00 IST is 3:30 am UTC, and 15:00 IST is 9:30 am UTC. Converting from UTC to IST: add the offset. 12:00 UTC is 5:30 pm IST, and 18:00 UTC is 11:30 pm IST. If the result crosses midnight, the date changes: 4:30 am is the time in IST when it is 23:00 UTC, and if that is past midnight it is the next day. The UTC converter does both directions for any time and any date.

Common mistakes with IST

The commonest mistake is using IST for the wrong season: writing EST in July, when New York is on EDT, or writing EDT in January, when it is on EST. The second mistake is forgetting the place: EST means different things in North America (UTC−05:00) and Australia (UTC+10:00), and CST means different things in North America (UTC−06:00), China (UTC+08:00) and Cuba (UTC−05:00). The fix for both is the same: write the offset with the abbreviation, and check the date. The time zone converter shows the offset for any city on any date, so there is no need to guess.

Frequently asked questions

What does IST stand for?

India Standard Time. It is UTC+05:30 from UTC, and it is used in Asia, in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai.

What is the UTC offset of IST?

UTC+05:30. That means IST is 5.5 hours ahead of UTC: when it is 12:00 UTC it is 5:30 pm IST.

When is IST used?

All year. The places that use IST do not observe daylight saving, so the abbreviation never changes.

What cities use IST?

Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai. IST is UTC+05:30 all year — India has never observed daylight saving, and the whole country uses this one offset.

How do I convert IST to my time?

Convert IST to UTC first — subtract UTC+05:30 — then add your own offset. Or use the UTC converter: enter the time in IST and it gives the time in any city.

Is IST the same as UTC?

No. IST is UTC+05:30 from UTC, and it is used all year — it has no daylight saving counterpart.

What time is it in IST now?

The UTC converter shows the current time in IST live — it is UTC plus UTC+05:30. Because IST is in effect all year, the time is always UTC plus UTC+05:30.

Related pages

Sources

  • IANA Time Zone Database, via Node.js Intl (Intl.DateTimeFormat with timeZone) — offsets, daylight saving dates and local times in this article were worked out from the IANA database, not typed from memory.
  • TimeFlow's own time-zone data (data/cities.ts, data/dst.ts), computed from the IANA database.
  • Time zone rules and offsets: the IANA Time Zone Database, as applied by this site's tools. Offsets on this page are computed from the database for the dates stated.
  • TimeFlow's UTC converter and time zone converter — the live tools behind the numbers on this page.
  • Time-zone and daylight saving rules are set by governments and can change. For flights, deadlines and meetings that cannot move, confirm the time with an official source.