If India adopts two time zones based on 75° E meridian for western Ind

If India adopts two time zones based on 75° E meridian for western India and 90° E meridian for eastern India, which one among the following states of eastern India will be benefited most ?

Join Our Telegram Channel

Manipur

West Bengal

Assam

Bihar

Answer is Right!

Answer is Wrong!

This question was previously asked in

UPSC CAPF – 2011

Download PDF Attempt Online

India currently uses a single time zone based on 82.5° E longitude (IST). States located further east experience sunrise and sunset significantly earlier than the clock time suggests, leading to practical issues like late starts to the day according to solar time. Adopting a second time zone based on 90° E would align clock time better with solar time for eastern states. The benefit would be most pronounced for states located furthest to the east, as the difference between their solar time and the current IST is largest. Among the given options of eastern Indian states, Manipur is geographically located furthest to the east. Therefore, it would experience the greatest positive impact from a separate eastern time zone based on 90° E.

The need for separate time zones in India is primarily felt in the extreme eastern states due to the large longitudinal extent of the country, causing a significant difference between local solar time and the standard time based on 82.5° E.

The difference in solar time between the easternmost and westernmost points of India is approximately two hours. States like Arunachal Pradesh in the extreme east see sunrise as early as 4 AM IST in summer. A separate time zone for the northeast region, based on a more easterly meridian like 90° E or 97.5° E, has been proposed multiple times to address this issue, which impacts productivity and energy consumption.

More similar MCQ questions for Exam preparation:-