IST to EST
Eastern Time is 9 hours 30 minutes behind India Standard Time for 238 days of the year, and takes 2 different values across the year.
IST to EST conversion table
Every hour of the day at the difference that holds for 238 days of 2026 — 9 hours 30 minutes. See “When the difference changes” below for the rest.
| IST | EST |
|---|---|
| 12:00 AM | 2:30 PM −1 day |
| 1:00 AM | 3:30 PM −1 day |
| 2:00 AM | 4:30 PM −1 day |
| 3:00 AM | 5:30 PM −1 day |
| 4:00 AM | 6:30 PM −1 day |
| 5:00 AM | 7:30 PM −1 day |
| 6:00 AM | 8:30 PM −1 day |
| 7:00 AM | 9:30 PM −1 day |
| 8:00 AM | 10:30 PM −1 day |
| 9:00 AM | 11:30 PM −1 day |
| 10:00 AM | 12:30 AM |
| 11:00 AM | 1:30 AM |
| IST | EST |
|---|---|
| 12:00 PM | 2:30 AM |
| 1:00 PM | 3:30 AM |
| 2:00 PM | 4:30 AM |
| 3:00 PM | 5:30 AM |
| 4:00 PM | 6:30 AM |
| 5:00 PM | 7:30 AM |
| 6:00 PM | 8:30 AM |
| 7:00 PM | 9:30 AM |
| 8:00 PM | 10:30 AM |
| 9:00 PM | 11:30 AM |
| 10:00 PM | 12:30 PM |
| 11:00 PM | 1:30 PM |
Shared working hours
They do not overlap at all. A 09:00–17:00 working day in India Standard Time ends 1 hour 30 minutes before the Eastern Time one begins, so any live call sits outside somebody's working hours.
The shortest reach is the edges: early morning in IST against late evening in EST, 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 | EST is | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January – 8 March | 10 hours 30 minutes behind | — |
| 8 March – 1 November | 9 hours 30 minutes behind | Eastern Time clocks go forward one hour |
| 1 November – 1 January | 10 hours 30 minutes behind | Eastern Time clocks go back one hour |
Dates are India Standard Time local dates for 2026. Transition dates move by a few days from year to year; the rule each country follows does not.
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.
About Eastern Time
Eastern Time is the most populous North American zone and the one most business hours are quoted in. It is UTC−5 as EST and UTC−4 as EDT. Because it changes on US dates rather than European ones, its gap to London and to Central Europe is not constant — there are two short stretches each year when it is an hour narrower than usual, and they are the reason this pair's table has more than one row.
Cities on this clock: New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa.
How the difference is worked out
The gap between India Standard Time and Eastern Time is not one number. The two zones change their clocks on different dates, so for part of the year the difference is 9 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 — Eastern Time is 10 hours 30 minutes behind India Standard 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 Asia/Kolkata and America/New_York. Nothing is looked up on a server and nothing about your visit is recorded.
Is EST ahead of or behind IST?
Eastern Time is 9 hours 30 minutes behind India Standard 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, Eastern Time clocks go forward one hour; on 1 November, Eastern Time clocks go back one hour (dates for 2026).
What time is 9 AM IST in EST?
9:00 AM IST is 11:30 PM EST the previous day for most of the year — see the table above for the 3 stretches of 2026 the gap holds different values.
When can India Standard Time and Eastern Time meet?
They do not overlap. A 09:00–17:00 working day in India Standard Time ends 1 hour 30 minutes before the Eastern Time one begins, so a call has to sit outside someone's working hours — early morning in India Standard Time or late evening in Eastern Time is usually the shortest reach.
What does IST stand for?
IST is India Standard Time, also written India time, Delhi time, Mumbai time. IST is also Israel Standard Time (UTC+2) and Irish Standard Time (UTC+1). This page is the Indian one.