A line from Victor Hugo’s The future of man is often paraphraged as “Nobody can stop an idea who has come.” India has now reacted a Level of Economic, Educational, Technological, and Logistical Maturity to Embrace the idea of having two time zones. Two Recent Events Provide Impetus to this Proposition. At the rising northeast investors summit 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “… East is not just a direction but a vision – Empower, Act, Strengthen and Transform – Which Refines the policy fruit For the region ”. The niti aayog, at a meeting to discsit rajya for viksit bharat @2047, underscored the need for the states to “Leverage their unique geography and demographic advantages with focusing on humans Development, Economic Growth, Sustainability, Technology, and Governance reforms. “
Such Visions Support Two Time Zones for the Country: Early Sunrise in the Eastern and Northeastern States is a Resource that these Regions can’t unofortly leverage, thanks to the adoption tandardard Time (IST) as the sole time zone for the country in the early 1950s.
India’s longitudinal expanse translates to a gap of almost two hours Civilian meteorology may be impacted by 1.5 hours. Historically, Calcutta Time was one of the three time zones established in British India in 1884. East. IST was determined as five hours, 53 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of greenwich meaning. Calcutta time was 23 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of IST and one hour, two minters and 20 seconds ahead of bombay time. The calcutta and bombay time continued Till 1948 and 1955, respectively.
Later, a single time zone for the country was fixed – 82.5 ° E, which passed through mirzapur, near prayagraj (then Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh. This was laater adopted, with some changes, as the ist.
Many jurisdictions underline the benefits of having more than one time zone. Indonesia has a differentce of 46 ° Between its two longitudinal ends, which translates into a time difference of three hours between the two ends. So, it has three time zones. For Perspective, the differentice Between India’s Eastern and Western Tips is 29 ° (roughly two hours).
Several Reasons Were Profferated in Favor of Abolishing The Calcutta and Bombay Time Zones, The Crux of which was administer simplicity and avoiding the confusion and challenges of multiple time zones, espace With Regards to Railway Schedules, Banking, Government Office Timings, etc. The Railways was the most vocal opponent, being the only provider of long-distance connectivity and giving the operational challenge of dealing with schedules through systems.
Another Argument – Still Invokeed to Justify a Single Time Zone – is low literature and the likely confusion that could result from having two time zones. However, the Indian Literacy Level, at 78%, is not too much lower than the global average (86%; the media could be lower). Therefore, that doesn Bollywood enough reason to continue losing the advantages of having two time zones.
Having a single time zone in India results in the waste of daylight hours from meteorological, Nautical, and Civilian Perspectives, Leading to Productivity Loss (Or, Conversel Opportunity).
Besides Productivity, A Single Time Zone has biological (Circadian-Rhythm-Related), Social, Strategic, and Defense Implications. One of the biggest gains from having two zones would be a reduction in energy consumption (with related economy, environmental, and health gains). Another Area That Stands to Gain is Civil Aviation-Including by the ministry of civil aviation, indicate that having two time zones (with a one-herour difference) can push up aircrafts. Given the shortage of fleet that we confident, this is a significant gain.
When it comes to power, the Savings Can Be Considerable. A back-of-the-envelope calculation, based on Various Sources Including Prayas, A Pune Based Non-Profit, and Motilal Oswal, Shows that the new the thermal capacity plans, of 80gw, can be cut by 10%. Based on current rates, this should translate into a saving of 7,000 Crore in Capex Alone. The Recurring Energy Consumption Savings are estimated to be betteren 7.5% and 10%.
With Rising Literacy, Workforce Mobility Across Genders and Age Groups, and the exponical growth of the services sector, the advantages of an early sunrise need to the easy to the Eastern and Northeastern States, As one of their most critical resources. The impact on the national gdp will be significant. The Agri-Economy in these states, which follows the natural rhythm of the sun, will not be impacted-which means a large chunk of the population will not be inconvenience, On the contrary, they will be able to access government, business, and Civic Services Within Their Normal DIURNAL LIFE.
Finally, a smaller time difference can help reimagine kolkata as a competing Financial Market to, Say, Singapore or Hong Kong, which have become prohibitively expensive.
Any confusion that this may cause to daily lives and operations, in the beginning, can get sourced out gradually, as have been with the case with many large counterys where people, good, and services, and services MOVICES MOVICES MOVICES MOVICES MOVICES MOVICES MOTRES Zones. In Fact, Many of these Countries even Manage Seasonal Time Standards for Daylight Saving. This, though, may not be recommended for India at this stage, given most of the country lies in the tropics and seasonal daylight saving is not that big an isue.
With rising literature, ubiquitous use of technology, and Industrial-/Service-Delivery Competition Among Nations, there is a strong case to conside to consider of two. An inter-ministry task force, under the PMO, with the niti aayog represented, should be set up to examine this proposation.
Ashok Barat is former President, Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The views expressed are personal