IST to CET Time Zone Converter
India Standard Time to Central European Time lines up India's clock with cities like Paris, Berlin, and Rome. The gap is 4 hours 30 minutes in winter and 3 hours 30 minutes in summer, because Central Europe shifts to summer time from spring to fall while India never changes. The converter tracks which side of that switch your date lands on.
Enter a date and time to convert.
Daylight saving is applied automatically for the date you pick. Labels like PST/EST name the zone (Pacific/Eastern); the real abbreviation shifts to PDT/EDT during daylight saving, and gmt here means London (GMT in winter, BST in summer) while utc stays fixed.
The time difference
Central European Time is 4 hours 30 minutes behind India in winter and 3 hours 30 minutes behind in summer. India (Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore) holds at UTC+5:30 all year, but Central Europe springs forward to CEST on Mar 29, 2026 and falls back on Oct 25, 2026. Because only the European side moves, the gap closes by an hour over the summer.
A worked example
Take 9:00 AM in India. On Jan 15, 2026, with Central Europe on CET, that is 4:30 AM in Paris or Berlin. On Jul 15, 2026, with the region on CEST, the same 9:00 AM IST lands at 5:30 AM — an hour later, because Central Europe has shifted for summer while India has not.
Daylight saving & the abbreviation caveat
"CET" is really the winter label. From spring to fall Central Europe runs on CEST (Central European Summer Time), one hour ahead, though people often just say "CET" year-round. India never observes daylight saving — it stays at UTC+5:30 always. So the movement is always on the European side. The converter picks the correct offset for the exact date you enter, which is why a summer answer sits an hour later than a winter one — that's CEST, not an error.
When you'll use it
Setting up a call between an India team and a European office, catching a live event or football match on the continent, timing a market open in Frankfurt, or planning remote work hours across the two regions.
Frequently asked questions
How far behind IST is CET?
4 hours 30 minutes in winter, when Central Europe is on CET. From late March to late October the region moves to CEST (summer time), which narrows the gap to 3 hours 30 minutes.
Why does the gap change across the year?
India stays fixed at UTC+5:30 all year, but Central European cities spring forward an hour for summer. With only one side moving, the difference shifts by that hour.
Which cities use CET?
Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, Amsterdam, and much of continental Europe. They share the same offset, so this conversion covers all of them at once.