Syncing India: ‘One Nation, One Time’ to Standardize Time Across Sectors

A significant conference on Time Dissemination, themed ‘One Nation, One Time,’ took place in New Delhi, organized by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, emphasized the project’s importance, a collaborative effort with CSIR-NPL and ISRO. The upcoming Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025, will mandate the use of Indian Standard Time (IST) across all legal, commercial, and administrative domains, ensuring synchronization across various sectors. The initiative aims to provide IST with millisecond to microsecond accuracy through RRSLs equipped with atomic clocks and synchronization systems. This initiative aims to boost efficiency and national security. Participants from banking, telecom, energy, and transportation sectors expressed strong support for the initiative. The Time Dissemination project resulted from years of inter-ministerial and technical discussions. The initiative will result in more secure digital transactions, better billing accuracy and fewer cybercrime issues for citizens. Various industry leaders, government representatives, and technical partners participated in the event.