Time in Chennai, India 🇮🇳
The current local time in Chennai, India is shown below — the city is in the Asia/Kolkata time zone (UTC +05:30 · IST).
Chennai local time
Thursday, 22 October 2026 IST
Chennai at a glance
- Time zone
Asia/Kolkata· India Standard Time- UTC offset now
- +05:30 IST
- Daylight saving
- No · UTC +05:30 all year
- Coordinates
- 13.08° N, 80.27° E
- Population
- 10,971,000
- Country
- India · ISO IN
- Dialing code
- +91
- Currency
- Indian Rupee (INR)
- Work week
- Monday to Friday
- Drives on the
- Left
Chennai right now
Time difference
Chennai is shown here relative to your device's time zone.
Planning a call? Compare hours side by side in the time zone converter.
Upcoming public holidays
- Christmas Day Fri, Dec 25, 2026
- Republic Day Tue, Jan 26, 2027
- Good Friday Fri, Mar 26, 2027
- Ambedkar Jayanti Wed, Apr 14, 2027
Sun today
Sunrise 06:01 · Sunset 17:47
Day length 11h 46m · twilight and monthly table →
Chennai time vs. UTC
A 09:00–17:00 working day in Chennai overlaps with 09:00–17:00 UTC from 14:30 to 17:00 Chennai time. Open this page in your browser and the second row switches to your own time zone.
| Chennai | 00:00 | 01:00 | 02:00 | 03:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 | 09:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | 18:00 | 19:00 | 20:00 | 21:00 | 22:00 | 23:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTC | 18:30 | 19:30 | 20:30 | 21:30 | 22:30 | 23:30 | 00:30 | 01:30 | 02:30 | 03:30 | 04:30 | 05:30 | 06:30 | 07:30 | 08:30 | 09:30 | 10:30 | 11:30 | 12:30 | 13:30 | 14:30 | 15:30 | 16:30 | 17:30 |
- Office hours 09–17
- Awake, off work
- Night 22–07
Chennai vs. major cities
How far Chennai is from the world's main business centres right now, what time it is there when the working day starts in Chennai, and which hours of a 09:00–17:00 day the two places share. Daylight saving changes are applied automatically.
| City | Difference | At 09:00 in Chennai | Shared office hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York · United States | −9:30 h | 23:30 (prev. day) | None |
| Los Angeles · United States | −12:30 h | 20:30 (prev. day) | None |
| São Paulo · Brazil | −8:30 h | 00:30 | None |
| London · United Kingdom | −4:30 h | 04:30 | 13:30–17:00 |
| Paris · France | −3:30 h | 05:30 | 12:30–17:00 |
| Johannesburg · South Africa | −3:30 h | 05:30 | 12:30–17:00 |
| Dubai · United Arab Emirates | −1:30 h | 07:30 | 10:30–17:00 |
| Singapore · Singapore | +2:30 h | 11:30 | 09:00–14:30 |
| Beijing · China | +2:30 h | 11:30 | 09:00–14:30 |
| Tokyo · Japan | +3:30 h | 12:30 | 09:00–13:30 |
Shared office hours are shown in Chennai time. Compare any set of cities hour by hour in the time zone converter, or pick a slot that suits everyone with the event planner.
Cities near Chennai
The closest places to Chennai among the cities we track, measured in a straight line from the city centre. Some of them keep a different clock, so check the time difference before crossing a border or booking a call.
| City | Distance | Time difference |
|---|---|---|
| Bangalore | 290 km (180 mi) west | Same time |
| Hyderabad | 520 km (320 mi) north | Same time |
| Colombo · Sri Lanka | 690 km (430 mi) south | Same time |
| Pune | 910 km (570 mi) northwest | Same time |
| Mumbai | 1,030 km (640 mi) northwest | Same time |
| Kolkata | 1,360 km (840 mi) northeast | Same time |
| Ahmedabad | 1,370 km (850 mi) northwest | Same time |
| Dhaka · Bangladesh | 1,600 km (990 mi) northeast | +0:30 h |
Distances are great-circle distances. A plus sign means the other city is ahead of Chennai.
Clock time vs. sun time in Chennai
Chennai's standard offset, UTC +05:30, is based on the 82.5° E meridian; the city itself lies at 80.27° E, 2.2° west of it. Its clocks are therefore within 9 minutes of local solar time. Solar noon — when the sun is highest — falls between 11:53 (around 29 October) and 12:24 (around 5 February) on the clock.
How dates and times are written in Chennai
- Short date
- 22/10/2026 · DD/MM/YYYY
- Long date
- 22 अक्टूबर 2026
- Time
- 3:30 pm · 12-hour clock
- Week starts on
- Sunday
Examples show 22 October 2026 at 15:30 using the Unicode CLDR conventions for hi-IN, India's most common locale. Businesses and English-language sources may use other formats.
Clock changes in Chennai
Chennai has kept the same UTC +05:30 offset without daylight saving time since at least 1970.
No clock changes are scheduled in 2026 or 2027: Chennai stays on UTC +05:30 all year.
Source: IANA tz database, as shipped with the Unicode ICU library.
Daylight in Chennai through the year
The longest day in Chennai is 22 June with 12h 54m of daylight; the shortest is 22 December with 11h 21m. Day length swings by 1 h 33 min over the year. The earliest sunrise is at 05:42 on 29 May and the latest sunset at 18:40 on 29 June — not on the solstice itself, because solar noon drifts through the year.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Chennai in?
Chennai uses the Asia/Kolkata time zone (IST): UTC +05:30 all year round.
Does Chennai observe daylight saving time?
No. Chennai has not used daylight saving time since at least 1970.
When is the longest day of the year in Chennai?
Around 22 June, with 12h 54m of daylight. The shortest day is around 22 December, with 11h 21m.
What is the dialing code for Chennai?
To call Chennai from abroad, dial your international access code, then India's country code +91, then the local number without its leading trunk prefix.
What are normal working days in Chennai?
The standard work week in India runs Monday to Friday, with the weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Keep this in mind when scheduling calls from countries with a different weekend.
What is the nearest city to Chennai on a different time?
Of the 189 cities we track, the closest one keeping a different clock is Dhaka, Bangladesh, about 1,600 km (990 mi) to the northeast. It is 30 min ahead of Chennai.
How are dates and times written in Chennai?
Following the hi-IN conventions in the Unicode CLDR, a short date is written DD/MM/YYYY (22/10/2026) and times usually use the 12-hour clock (3:30 pm). Calendars start the week on Sunday.
Explore more for Chennai
Everything else we track for Chennai: daylight, weather, the country overview, and the exact time-zone references.