CST to IST
India Standard Time is 10 hours 30 minutes ahead of Central Time for 238 days of the year, and takes 2 different values across the year.
CST to IST conversion table
Every hour of the day at the difference that holds for 238 days of 2026 — 10 hours 30 minutes. See “When the difference changes” below for the rest.
| CST | IST |
|---|---|
| 12:00 AM | 10:30 AM |
| 1:00 AM | 11:30 AM |
| 2:00 AM | 12:30 PM |
| 3:00 AM | 1:30 PM |
| 4:00 AM | 2:30 PM |
| 5:00 AM | 3:30 PM |
| 6:00 AM | 4:30 PM |
| 7:00 AM | 5:30 PM |
| 8:00 AM | 6:30 PM |
| 9:00 AM | 7:30 PM |
| 10:00 AM | 8:30 PM |
| 11:00 AM | 9:30 PM |
| CST | IST |
|---|---|
| 12:00 PM | 10:30 PM |
| 1:00 PM | 11:30 PM |
| 2:00 PM | 12:30 AM +1 day |
| 3:00 PM | 1:30 AM +1 day |
| 4:00 PM | 2:30 AM +1 day |
| 5:00 PM | 3:30 AM +1 day |
| 6:00 PM | 4:30 AM +1 day |
| 7:00 PM | 5:30 AM +1 day |
| 8:00 PM | 6:30 AM +1 day |
| 9:00 PM | 7:30 AM +1 day |
| 10:00 PM | 8:30 AM +1 day |
| 11:00 PM | 9:30 AM +1 day |
Shared working hours
They do not overlap at all. A 09:00–17:00 working day in Central Time ends 2 hours 30 minutes before the India Standard Time one begins, so any live call sits outside somebody's working hours.
The shortest reach is the edges: early morning in CST against late evening in IST, or the other way round.
When the difference changes
The two zones move their clocks on different dates, so the gap takes more than one value. These are the stretches of 2026:
| Dates | IST is | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 31 December – 8 March | 11 hours 30 minutes ahead of | — |
| 8 March – 1 November | 10 hours 30 minutes ahead of | Central Time clocks go forward one hour |
| 1 November – 31 December | 11 hours 30 minutes ahead of | Central Time clocks go back one hour |
Dates are Central Time local dates for 2026. Transition dates move by a few days from year to year; the rule each country follows does not.
About Central Time
Central Time covers the middle third of North America, from Manitoba down through Texas. It is UTC−6 as CST and UTC−5 as CDT, changing on the same dates as the other US zones — so the one-hour steps between Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern hold all year and never briefly collapse.
Cities on this clock: Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Nashville, Minneapolis, New Orleans.
Watch out: CST is also the abbreviation for China Standard Time, which is UTC+8 — fourteen hours away from this one. This page is the North American zone.
About India Standard Time
India keeps one clock, UTC+5:30, across a country spanning about 29 degrees of longitude — the sun rises nearly two hours earlier in Arunachal Pradesh than in Gujarat on the same clock. The half-hour offset means most conversions from India land on the half hour rather than the hour. Sri Lanka keeps the same time.
Cities on this clock: Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad.
Watch out: IST is also Israel Standard Time (UTC+2) and Irish Standard Time (UTC+1). This page is the Indian one.
How the difference is worked out
The gap between Central Time and India Standard Time is not one number. The two zones change their clocks on different dates, so for part of the year the difference is 10 hours 30 minutes and for the rest it is something else — the table above lists each stretch of 2026 with the date it starts and which country's clocks moved.
With both zones on their own standard time — daylight saving not in force anywhere — India Standard Time is 11 hours 30 minutes ahead of Central Time. That figure never changes; everything else on this page follows from it plus whichever clocks have moved.
Every figure here comes from the IANA time zone database via your browser's own Intl engine, using the zone ids America/Chicago and Asia/Kolkata. Nothing is looked up on a server and nothing about your visit is recorded.
Is IST ahead of or behind CST?
India Standard Time is 10 hours 30 minutes ahead of Central Time for 238 days of the year, and takes 2 different values across the year. The gap moves because the two zones change their clocks on different dates — on 8 March, Central Time clocks go forward one hour; on 1 November, Central Time clocks go back one hour (dates for 2026).
What time is 9 AM CST in IST?
9:00 AM CST is 7:30 PM IST for most of the year — see the table above for the 3 stretches of 2026 the gap holds different values.
When can Central Time and India Standard Time meet?
They do not overlap. A 09:00–17:00 working day in Central Time ends 2 hours 30 minutes before the India Standard Time one begins, so a call has to sit outside someone's working hours — early morning in Central Time or late evening in India Standard Time is usually the shortest reach.
What does CST stand for?
CST is Central Time, also written CDT, Central Time, Chicago time. CST is also the abbreviation for China Standard Time, which is UTC+8 — fourteen hours away from this one. This page is the North American zone.