CET to IST Converter (Central European Time to India Time)

Mid-January 2026: IST is 4 hours 30 minutes ahead of CET. Mid-July 2026: IST is 3 hours 30 minutes ahead of CEST.

Central European Time (UTC+01:00) is the winter clock of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland and many neighbors. India Standard Time is UTC+05:30 all year. In winter the difference is 4 hours 30 minutes, which makes India a late-afternoon or evening partner for a European morning.

From the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, Europe moves to Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00) and the gap closes to 3 hours 30 minutes. India stays unchanged, so every change in the difference comes from the European side.

How to use this tool

1. Pick a date and time in CET. The date matters when daylight saving time is in force.
2. Read the matching time in IST, with both UTC offsets.
3. Use "Use current time" for now, or the tables below for a quick look.

Formula

IST time = CET time − (CET UTC offset) + (IST UTC offset)

The converter looks up both UTC offsets for the actual instant in the saved IANA time zone rules, so daylight saving changes are included automatically.

Example

Worked with the saved rules:

9:00 AM CET on March 2, 2026 = 1:30 PM IST

6:30 PM CEST on August 3, 2026 = 10:00 PM IST

Time difference through the year

The difference depends on the date when either place moves its clocks. These are the offsets on two reference days, from the saved IANA rules:

Clock changes in 2026

Between these dates the difference shifts by the size of the change.

CET to IST time table

Each hour in Central European Time with the matching India Standard Time time in winter and summer (reference days in January and July).

IST to CET time table

Each hour in India Standard Time with the matching Central European Time time in winter and summer (reference days in January and July).

Hours that work in both places

Hours (on the January reference day) that fall between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM in both CET and IST:

Check the summer column above when one of the places is on daylight saving time.

Europe and India share a working day

Unlike the United States, Europe overlaps well with India. A 9:00 a.m. meeting in Frankfurt is 1:30 p.m. in Pune in winter, in the middle of the Indian working day. A call at 11:00 a.m. in Paris is at 3:30 p.m. in Delhi, and both sides are fully at work.

That is one reason engineering, consulting and customer support teams for European firms are staffed in India. The shared window is about four hours in the European morning and Indian afternoon.

When Europe changes clocks

The EU rules in Directive 2000/84/EC set summer time to begin and end on the last Sundays of March and October. In 2026 these are March 29 and October 25. Between March 8 and March 29, the United States is already on daylight saving time while Europe is not, which matters for three-way calls with New York.

For a fixed weekly meeting between Europe and India, check the week of each change: a call that stays at 2:00 p.m. in Berlin moves by one hour on the Indian clock.