PST to IST converter
India is 13½ hours ahead of the West Coast in winter and 12½ hours ahead in summer: almost exactly the other side of the clock.
India is 13 hours 30 minutes ahead of San Francisco in winter, and 12 hours 30 minutes ahead in summer.
The West Coast and India: two windows a day
With twelve and a half or thirteen and a half hours between them, the Bay Area and Bengaluru never share a working hour. What they share are the two ends of the day, and every team that spans them ends up using one or both.
Engineering teams in the Bay Area and India
Pick one of the two windows and rotate who takes the less comfortable one.
- Early Pacific morning, 7–9 AM = India 7:30 PM–9:30 PM (summer) or 8:30 PM–10:30 PM (winter)
- Pacific evening, 8–10 PM = India’s next morning, 8:30 AM–10:30 AM (summer) or 9:30 AM–11:30 AM (winter)
Handovers work well: whatever India finishes by 6 PM IST is ready by 5:30 AM PT in summer, before the West Coast is up.
Converting in your head
Because the gap is so close to 12 hours, you can almost read India’s time off your own clock.
- Summer (PDT): swap AM and PM, then add 30 minutes. 9 AM PDT → 9:30 PM IST.
- Winter (PST): swap AM and PM, then add 1½ hours. 9 AM PST → 10:30 PM IST.
- Evenings roll into India’s next day: 6 PM PDT → 6:30 AM (next day).
Calling parents in India from California
Your evening is their morning, which suits most families.
- 7 PM Pacific = 7:30 AM (next day) in summer, 8:30 AM (next day) in winter
- Weekend morning, 8 AM Saturday Pacific = 8:30 PM Saturday in India (summer)
Avoid the Pacific afternoon: 3 PM PT is the small hours of the next morning in India.
Cricket on the West Coast
Indian match times fall at the edges of a Pacific day.
- IPL evening games, 7:30 PM IST = 7:00 AM PDT
- IPL afternoon games, 3:30 PM IST = 3:00 AM PDT
- A Test in India at 9:30 AM IST starts at 8:00 PM (previous day) PST
Flying from California to India
Nonstop flights from San Francisco to Bengaluru or Delhi are among the longest in the world, at roughly 16 to 18 hours. With the time difference on top, the date on your arrival card will be two days after the date you left: a flight leaving at 11 PM on a Monday in winter lands at about 5:30 AM on Wednesday in India after about 17 hours in the air.
Most people break the body-clock shift by treating the flight as one long night, sleeping in the first half and staying awake for the second, so they land ready for an Indian morning.
When the gap moves
India keeps UTC+5:30 all year. California moves to Pacific Daylight Time on the second Sunday of March and back to Pacific Standard Time on the first Sunday of November, so those are the only two days the gap changes.
Pacific Time to India, every hour
Pick the India column that matches the season on the West Coast: standard time in winter, daylight time in summer. Green rows mark the two usual call windows, your early morning and your evening.
| California (PT) | India, PT on PSTNov–Mar, +13:30 | India, PT on PDTMar–Nov, +12:30 |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 AM (midnight) | 1:30 PM | 12:30 PM |
| 1:00 AM | 2:30 PM | 1:30 PM |
| 2:00 AM | 3:30 PM | 2:30 PM |
| 3:00 AM | 4:30 PM | 3:30 PM |
| 4:00 AM | 5:30 PM | 4:30 PM |
| 5:00 AM | 6:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
| 6:00 AM | 7:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
| 7:00 AM | 8:30 PM | 7:30 PM |
| 8:00 AM | 9:30 PM | 8:30 PM |
| 9:00 AM | 10:30 PM | 9:30 PM |
| 10:00 AM | 11:30 PM | 10:30 PM |
| 11:00 AM | 12:30 AM next day | 11:30 PM |
| 12:00 PM (noon) | 1:30 AM next day | 12:30 AM next day |
| 1:00 PM | 2:30 AM next day | 1:30 AM next day |
| 2:00 PM | 3:30 AM next day | 2:30 AM next day |
| 3:00 PM | 4:30 AM next day | 3:30 AM next day |
| 4:00 PM | 5:30 AM next day | 4:30 AM next day |
| 5:00 PM | 6:30 AM next day | 5:30 AM next day |
| 6:00 PM | 7:30 AM next day | 6:30 AM next day |
| 7:00 PM | 8:30 AM next day | 7:30 AM next day |
| 8:00 PM | 9:30 AM next day | 8:30 AM next day |
| 9:00 PM | 10:30 AM next day | 9:30 AM next day |
| 10:00 PM | 11:30 AM next day | 10:30 AM next day |
| 11:00 PM | 12:30 PM next day | 11:30 AM next day |
“next day”: it is already tomorrow in India.
Quick answers
If it is 9 AM in California, what time is it in India?
Night-time: 10:30 PM IST during Pacific Standard Time, or 9:30 PM IST during Pacific Daylight Time. Both are the same calendar day.
What is 9 PM PST in IST?
9 PM PST is 10:30 AM IST on the following day. With daylight saving (9 PM PDT) it is 9:30 AM IST.
How many hours ahead of California is India?
13.5 hours while California is on PST and 12.5 hours while it is on PDT. India does not use daylight saving time.
What is the best time for a call between the Bay Area and India?
Either early Pacific morning, 7 to 9 AM, which is India’s evening, or Pacific evening, 8 to 10 PM, which is India’s next morning.
What time are IPL matches on the US West Coast?
IPL night games (7:30 PM IST) begin at 7:00 AM PDT, and day games (3:30 PM IST) at 3:00 AM PDT, so the early game is a middle-of-the-night one in California.
Is there an easy way to convert PST to IST?
Swap AM and PM, then add 1 hour 30 minutes in winter (PST) or 30 minutes in summer (PDT). For example, 9 AM PDT becomes 9:30 PM IST.