One Nation, One Time: India’s march towards time sovereignty, says Union Minister Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi: The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, organised a landmark Round Table Conference on Time Dissemination at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, today, under the visionary theme “One Nation, One Time.”

According to a press release, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and New & Renewable Energy, Pralhad Joshi, emphasised the strategic significance of the Time Dissemination Project being implemented by the Department of Consumer Affairs in collaboration with CSIR-NPL and ISRO.

He highlighted that the upcoming Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025, will mandate synchronisation of all legal, commercial and administrative activities with Indian Standard Time (IST), prohibiting the use of alternative time references unless explicitly authorised.

The Minister underscored that precise and uniform dissemination of IST across sectors such as financial markets, power grids, telecommunications, transportation, and others is essential to ensuring fairness, accuracy and national security.

The initiative aims to deliver IST with millisecond to microsecond accuracy through five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) equipped with atomic clocks and secure synchronization protocols like NTP and PTP, ushering in a new era of digital and administrative efficiency under the vision of “One Nation, One Time”, the press release said.

Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Nidhi Khare, in her presentation, highlighted the urgent need for accurate, secure and legally mandated dissemination of IST to ensure uniformity across strategic and non-strategic sectors. S

he explained that under the Time Dissemination Project, the Department, in collaboration with CSIR-NPL and ISRO, is establishing an advanced infrastructure comprising five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Faridabad, and Guwahati.
These centres are being equipped with atomic clocks and secure synchronisation systems using Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP) to ensure millisecond to microsecond accuracy.

According to the press release, Bharat Khera, Additional Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, in his welcome address, emphasised that adopting a comprehensive approach to time management strengthens the Government’s ability to carry out enforcement activities with greater efficiency, accuracy and coordination, thereby enhancing overall administrative effectiveness.

The conference featured expert presentations on time synchronisation challenges and the necessity of reducing dependency on foreign time sources like GPS, which pose risks such as spoofing and jamming.

Stakeholders from diverse sectors such as banking, telecom, energy, stock markets and transportation echoed the importance of an indigenous, precise, and verifiable time standard.

The Time Dissemination initiative is the result of sustained inter-ministerial coordination and technical consultations since 2018. Meetings were held with the Principal Scientific Adviser, Deputy NSA, Cabinet Secretariat and NSCS.

Over 60 meetings have been held by the Department of Consumer Affairs, with extensive engagement with CSIR-NPL, ISRO and other key stakeholders. This sustained engagement led to the formulation of the Draft Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025.

For the common man, this initiative translates into more secure digital transactions, accurate billing in utilities, reduced cybercrime risks and synchronised timekeeping in transportation and communication, ensuring fairness, transparency, and trust in day-to-day services.
As per the press release, the Round Table Conference witnessed active participation from over 100 stakeholders representing a broad spectrum of sectors. These included senior officials from key Government Ministries and Departments such as the Department of Telecommunication, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Electronics & IT, Ministry of Finance, SEBI, NSCS, Railways, and the Central Bank of India. Technical partners from CSIR-NPL and ISRO also played a central role.

Leading public and private sector organisations like Power Grid, RailTel, BSNL, NSE, BSE and major telecom and internet service providers such as Reliance Jio, Airtel, Sify and Tata Communications participated.

Industry associations, including FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, PHD Chamber, COAI and TEMA, were well-represented, alongside key cybersecurity and digital infrastructure stakeholders like CERT-In, NIC, NCIIPC and CCA.

Voluntary Consumer Organisations (VCOs) and representatives from ICICI, Bank of Baroda and various other stakeholders also contributed to the discussions, reaffirming collective national support for the adoption of Indian Standard Time across sectors.