Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and New and Renewable Energy, Shri Pralhad Joshi, inaugurated the 'White Rabbit Technology'-based 'Indian Standard Time (IST) - Distribution Demonstration Network' today at the Regional Reference Standards Laboratory (RRSL) in Jakkur, Bengaluru.
Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister stated that this initiative, implemented under the ambitious vision of 'One Nation, One Time,' is a historic step toward establishing a uniform, highly precise, and secure time standard across India. The Minister emphasized that this new system upholds the sovereignty of the nation’s digital infrastructure by eliminating India’s reliance on foreign time sources like GPS.
By reducing dependence on external time references, critical sectors will gain maximum protection against risks such as cyber-attacks and data manipulation. This high-precision time synchronization technology will be revolutionary in maintaining the stability of high-frequency financial markets, stock exchanges, digital banking payments, telecommunications networks, and national power grids.
The Legal Metrology Division of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is the nodal agency for this project, which has been realized through the collaboration of key technical institutions including the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), ISRO, BSNL, and SEBI.
The Minister noted that this indigenous system, which operates in compliance with the global Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) protocols, will strengthen India's internal security while maintaining international quality standards. The Minister expressed his vision that these uniform time protocols will serve as a foundational pillar for India's future technology-driven digital governance and the transparency of public services.
Smt. Nidhi Khare, Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs; Shri Anupam Mishra, Additional Secretary; Shri Ashutosh Agarwal, Director of Legal Metrology; and other officials were present at the event.