IST to GMT

Unlike the US, the UK shares a real working day with India. When London opens at 9:00 AM it is 2:30 PM in India in winter or 1:30 PM in summer, leaving three to four hours of shared office time without anyone staying late. That is one reason British banks, insurers and retailers run large operations and technology centers in Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad.

Indian teams serving UK clients usually work a shifted day, about 11:00 AM–8:00 PM IST, which covers the London morning and early afternoon. In summer the British day starts an hour earlier by Indian clocks, so the shift often moves back by an hour as well.

The UK moves to British Summer Time on the last Sunday of March and returns to GMT on the last Sunday of October, both at 1:00 AM GMT. India does not change, so Indian teams see the difference move from 5½ to 4½ hours in spring and back in autumn. Those dates are a few weeks different from the US dates, so a team with both London and New York clients sees its schedule shift twice each spring and twice each autumn.

Strictly, GMT applies to London only in winter, but the label is used year-round and this page follows London's real clock. To convert from India to the US East Coast instead, see IST to EST.