Pralhad Joshi Launches White Rabbit-Based Indian Standard Time Network in Bengaluru

On 16th July 2026, Union Minister Mr. Pralhad Joshi commissioned a new "White Rabbit" technology based network in Bengaluru, for dissemination of Indian Standard Time (IST) with unprecedented accuracy. The project is a big step towards national digital sovereignty and is being led by the Department of Consumer Affairs, CSIR–National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Why ‘White Rabbit’ Matters

Time is a constant for most of us, but for critical infrastructure even a microsecond of error can cause massive disruptions. Many of India’s digital systems are currently synchronised using foreign satellite based signals (like GPS). They can be jammed, spoofed or just lose their signal. “White Rabbit” is a high-precision technology developed at CERN that keeps devices synchronized over fiber-optic networks with sub-nanosecond accuracy. With this, India is creating a terrestrial, indigenous “backbone” for time.

The actual effect

The scheme is an integral part of the government’s “One Nation, One Time” vision. The network will provide a secure, tamper resistant IST signal for a number of key sectors.

Financial Markets : Makes all stock trades and banking transactions timestamped with certainty and verification . This is important for stopping fraud , and providing fairness .

Telecommunications: helps better manage data traffic, decreasing lags and service interruptions.

Power Grids – Accurate timing enables improved monitoring and control of the flow of electricity to avoid stability problems across the national grid.

Cyber Resilience: Being terrestrial and local, it is much more resilient to the risks of relying solely on external satellite services.

A great first step

This network has already been successfully “stress tested” by the government in the form of secure time signals being transmitted between the Regional Reference Standard Laboratory (RRSL) in Bengaluru and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) facility in Chennai.

India is also moving away from external dependencies and is set to become more self-reliant in its digital infrastructure, ensuring that the country’s most critical services run on a time source that is both sovereign and extremely accurate.