IST — 3 time zones
IST is used for 3 unrelated time zones. Each one is listed below with its own clock — an IST timestamp with no region attached cannot be converted safely.
Current time in IST
India Standard Time
13:16
Sunday, 2 August 2026
IST = UTC+5:30 · 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of UTC
Irish Standard Time
08:46
Sunday, 2 August 2026
IST = UTC+1 · 1 hour ahead of UTC
Israel Standard Time
09:46
Sunday, 2 August 2026
IST = UTC+2 · 2 hours ahead of UTC
Shown for 2 Aug 2026 07:46 UTC. The clock goes live as soon as scripts load.
UTC offsets
UTC+5:30 / UTC+1 / UTC+2
Type
Mixed
Standard time in one region, daylight saving in another
Seasonal counterpart
GMT / IDT
The letters the same zones use for the other half of the year
Meanings
3
Ambiguous — always state a region
What IST can mean
Time zone abbreviations were never registered or coordinated, so the same letters were adopted independently in different parts of the world. These are the meanings in civil use, ordered by how many cities on this site use them.
| Meaning | UTC | Where |
|---|---|---|
| India Standard Time | UTC+5:30 | India |
| Irish Standard Time | UTC+1 | Ireland |
| Israel Standard Time | UTC+2 | Israel |
Is IST in force right now?
A zone only carries this abbreviation for part of the year. This is which of them were on it at 2 Aug 2026 07:46 UTC; the list is re-derived against your own clock when scripts load.
On IST now
- Asia/Kolkata — Bengaluru
- Europe/Dublin — Dublin
Using a different abbreviation
- Asia/Jerusalem — on IDT (UTC+3)
Convert IST to other time zones
India Standard Time (UTC+5:30)
Irish Standard Time (UTC+1)
Israel Standard Time (UTC+2)
City clocks reflect whatever their zone is doing; where a city observes daylight saving time, its difference from IST changes twice a year. Use the time zone converter for a specific date.
Time zones and cities that use IST
India Standard Time · UTC+5:30
Why IST is not an identifier
IST is shorthand, not a standard. There is no registry of time zone abbreviations, no authority that assigns them, and nothing preventing two regions from adopting the same three letters — which is exactly what happened here: India Standard Time, Irish Standard Time, Israel Standard Time all answer to IST.
For anything a machine will read — a calendar invitation, a database column, an API response — use the IANA identifier of the zone (Asia/Kolkata, for example) or an explicit UTC offset alongside the date. The identifier survives a change in the law; IST and its 5 hours 30 minutes offset do not.
Abbreviations on the same clock
Frequently asked questions
What does IST stand for?
IST has 3 meanings in civil use: India Standard Time at UTC+5:30; Irish Standard Time at UTC+1; Israel Standard Time at UTC+2. Which one is meant depends entirely on context, which is why IST should not be used where the reader cannot infer the region.
What is IST in UTC?
It depends on the meaning: India Standard Time is UTC+5:30, Irish Standard Time is UTC+1, Israel Standard Time is UTC+2. An IST timestamp with no region attached cannot be converted safely.
What is the difference between IST and GMT?
IST as Irish Standard Time is the daylight saving form and GMT the standard form of the same zones. The two are one hour apart and only one is ever in force at a time, so a recurring meeting written "IST" shifts by an hour when the clocks change.
Which time zone should I use instead of IST?
Use an IANA identifier — Asia/Kolkata for India Standard Time — or state the UTC offset with the date. Abbreviations are not identifiers: they are not unique, they are not registered anywhere, and half of them change with the season. Calendar software resolves this automatically when you pick a city rather than typing letters.