The world is divided into different time zones according to geographic location, latitude, longitude and the distance from the equator to name a few.

A time zone is essential for India because it helps us to get work done efficiently and use the time difference between different regions work to our advantage.

This time difference is important when it comes to the business process outsourcing and Information technology industry because there are many companies that are operating in India that come under different time zones.

Now, let us understand the relevance of Indian Standard Time (IST) to our daily lives.

The concept of standard time has existed in India for thousands of years, in fact it was used by astronomers who worked out of how to measure time and use it to calculate the number of hours in a day, a month and a year and they were accurate and able to calculate the rising and setting of the sun exactly upto the last second.

History tells us that earlier each state functioned independently and kept a track of time using the Hindu calendar that combines both lunar and solar aspects when calculating time while were found to correctly determine the local time of the specific area to which they belonged.

Before independence, the colonial rulers who were famous for their divide and rule policy, decided to use two time zones for the country, one for Mumbai and the other for Kolkata.

After independence, this was changed and the Indian government felt there was no need for two separate time zones and unified the country under one time zone known as Indian Standard Time.

Studies have shown that a time difference does exist between different parts of India, which works out to approximately two hours depending on which part of the country that you live in.

It must be noted that India does not follow daylight saving time or any other time difference due to seasonal changes.

Although, using Indian Standard Time looks good in theory, there are some concerns that have been raised time and again by those who feel that a single time zone is not the solution for a country as big as India.

There are some who justify the continuation of Indian Standard Time because India is not as big as America and having two time zones could upset the balance that we have maintained all these years with regards to work schedule, school timings, transportation problems as air travel and the railways would have to adjust their clocks accordingly.

In reality, North eastern India, the region most affected by Indian Standard Time, adjust their clocks one hour ahead of the official time zone, this has proved to have a positive impact on business and overall functioning of the economy in this part of the country.

The argument made for having two time zones is the fact that currently the use of Indian Standard Time has a negative effect on the Indian economy due to electricity use, the country needs to save electricity and the difference in timings prevents us from saving electricity and cutting costs.

At present, despite the demands for two time zones, the Indian government has decided it wil continue to use one time zone without any changes to the Indian Standard Time.