New Delhi: India is set to move towards a single, legally recognised time reference for official, commercial and digital activities from March 2027, with the Centre notifying rules to make Indian Standard Time (IST) the common reference across the country.

Under the new framework, relevant systems and institutions will be required to synchronise with an authorised Indian time source. The move is expected to affect key sectors including banking, telecommunications, transport, power networks and digital transactions.

The measure is aimed at ensuring greater accuracy and uniformity in timekeeping across critical systems and reducing discrepancies caused by different time sources.

However, the move does not mean that India is changing its time zone or that clocks will be moved forward or backward. IST will continue to remain the country’s standard time.

The new system will instead strengthen the use of a common and officially authorised time reference for systems where precise and synchronised timing is important.