Question

Why do we need a Standard Meridian for India?

Answer 1

Hint: India has a huge longitudinal extent, so it has potentially a large number of time zones. This could lead to serious problems regarding time in the country.

Complete Step by Step answer: The extent of India is approximately 29° longitudes. Since the time difference for each longitude is approximately 4 minutes, a total of two hours difference adds up between Arunachal Pradesh in the east and Kutch in the west. To counter this problem, a Standard Meridian for India has been chosen at a longitude of 82.5°, which passes from Prayagraj. This standard meridian has standardized the time of India as 5:30 hours ahead of the GMT. This has also saved India from having multiple time zones, as it would have led to unnecessary confusion in the movement of people from one time zone to another. The advantages of having a standard time zone are:
1. The transportation, including roadways, railways and airways work smoothly
2. The pan-country events can take place precisely at the same time, without any confusion.
3. The satellites can find themselves in sync with the entire country without any additional algorithm.

Note: Quite a number of times, there has been a talk regarding the Government of India introducing a separate time zone for the Northeastern states. However, these are all speculations which will only create doubts as they are mere speculations. In the past, Bombay, Madras and Calcutta had their own time zones, but since 1955, India has been operating under a single time zone only.