India and Gulf Time

A New Delhi office clock showing 11:30 means a Dubai office clock reads 10:00. That 90‑minute gap is permanent. India Standard Time (IST, UTC+5:30) stays 1.5 hours ahead of Gulf Standard Time (GST, UTC+4). For Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, all on Arabia Standard Time (AST, UTC+3), the offset is 2.5 hours: 11:30 IST is 09:00 in Riyadh.

IST to UAE and Oman: 1.5 hours behind

The UAE and Oman share Gulf Standard Time, UTC+4. India is always 1.5 hours ahead.

• Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Muscat: 90 minutes behind New Delhi.
• No DST: Neither India nor the Gulf shifts clocks. The 1.5‑hour gap is identical on 15 January and 15 July.
• Practical effect: A call scheduled for 09:00 IST starts at 07:30 GST. A flight landing in Dubai at 22:00 GST lands when India clocks read 23:30 IST.

IST to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain: 2.5 hours behind

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain use Arabia Standard Time, UTC+3. India is 2.5 hours ahead.

• Riyadh, Jeddah, Doha, Kuwait City, Manama: 2.5 hours behind New Delhi.
• Fixed offset: These countries do not change clocks. The gap holds year‑round.
• Example: A 14:00 IST meeting is 11:30 AST. A 20:00 IST flight departure is 17:30 AST.

Why the Gulf gap never moves

Every Gulf country stays on its time all year. India also has no daylight saving. The result: a fixed difference with no spring‑forward or fall‑back adjustments. The offset is the same in January, July and every month between.

India’s single time zone and year‑round offset trace back to the 82.5°E meridian near Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, set in 1906. The CSIR‑National Physical Laboratory in New Delhi maintains the atomic clocks that define IST. No DST has been observed since 1971.

IST to Gulf time conversion table

Dates roll over. When it is 01:00 IST on a Friday, it is 23:30 AST on Thursday and 22:30 GST on Thursday.