Time difference between India and the UK

A gap of five hours and a half, or four and a half

This is the simplest of the long-distance pairs to reason about, because only one end ever changes. India stays on UTC+5:30 all year. The United Kingdom is on Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0) in winter and British Summer Time (UTC+1) from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October. Subtract the UK offset from India’s and you get 5 hours 30 minutes in winter and 4 hours 30 minutes in summer.

Because both gaps end in a half hour, the minutes you see on the clock are never the same in the two places. An IST meeting at 3:00 PM is 9:30 AM in London in winter, and 10:30 AM in summer. The half hour is easy to get wrong when scheduling in your head, which is the main reason people use a converter for this pair.

Students and university terms

Indian students are one of the largest groups of international students in British universities, and the time difference shapes their year. Term-time lectures run from roughly 9 AM to 6 PM UK time, which is 2:30 PM to 11:30 PM in India. A student calling home after a lecture reaches parents in the evening, and a parent calling at 10:00 AM in Delhi is calling at 4:30 AM in Britain.

Admissions interviews, scholarship panels and visa appointments are all scheduled in UK time. A panel at 10:00 AM in London is 3:30 PM in Kolkata in winter, a comfortable slot, but the same 10:00 AM in summer is 2:30 PM, so confirm which clock the invitation uses.

Nurses, doctors and shift workers

Health workers recruited from India to the NHS and care sector, and the relatives they speak to at home, live with a particular pattern. Early shifts at 7:00 AM in the UK are 12:30 PM in India during winter, a calm lunchtime call after the first break, while a night shift ending at 8:00 AM is 1:30 PM. Families learn to check which day it is on the other end less than they do for the US, but the half-hour offset still trips up the first calls home.

Telehealth and second-opinion consultations with specialists across the two countries are often booked in the late afternoon in India, because 4:00 PM IST is 10:30 AM in Britain in winter.

Finance, trade and call centres

The London Stock Exchange runs from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM UK time. In winter that is 1:30 PM to 10:00 PM in India, so the Indian market closes at 3:30 PM IST while London is still in its opening hours and the two sessions share a short overlap from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM IST. The NSE opens at 9:15 AM IST, which is 3:45 AM in London, before most UK traders have started work.

Many British banks, telecoms and retailers also run customer support from centres in Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Their staff often work a mix of shifts built around UK hours: 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM in London becomes 2:30 PM to 11:00 PM in India in winter, a late afternoon and evening shift, or 1:30 PM to 10:00 PM in summer.

Cricket, weekends and festivals

Test cricket at Lord’s traditionally starts at 11:00 AM UK time, which is 4:30 PM in India in winter and 3:30 PM in summer when British clocks have moved forward. Diwali, Eid and Christmas celebrations are marked at the same calendar date in both countries, but the wall-clock times of a live stream or a family video call land very differently, which is why many families settle on the weekend lunchtime in the UK, which is about 5 PM or 6 PM in India.

When the gap changes in 2026 and 2027

Only the UK moves, so there are two dates to remember each year: the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October. Both fall at 1:00 AM UTC, which is 6:30 AM in India. The change takes effect in India without any local clock being touched, which is why people in India are often surprised when a recurring UK meeting suddenly appears an hour off in their calendar.

Every clock change that affects this pair

The gap, window by window

Business-hours overlap

Times in the table are in India time. The first column of results assumes a normal 9 AM to 5 PM day at both ends, using today’s offsets; the second uses July 2027; the third stretches both days to 7 AM to 10 PM, which is the realistic window when one team is willing to start early or finish late.

The practical shared window is the late afternoon in India and the morning in the UK. Book 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM IST in winter or 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM IST in summer. Avoid scheduling anything with the UK before about 2:30 PM IST in winter, since anything earlier is before 9:00 AM London time.