Overview

• The government has decided to make IST mandatory for all legal, commercial, digital and administrative activities, with notification of the Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025, expected in coming weeks.
• The rules will prohibit use of alternative time references unless explicitly authorized and establish five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Faridabad and Guwahati.
• These laboratories will house atomic clocks and employ secure synchronization protocols such as Network Time Protocol and Precision Time Protocol to deliver IST with millisecond to microsecond accuracy.
• Officials say the shift to indigenous NavIC-based timekeeping will cut cybersecurity risks such as spoofing and jamming linked to foreign satellite sources.
• Representatives from power grids, telecom, banking, defense and stock exchanges reviewed implementation details at a June 18 round table conference in New Delhi.