All States Stand to Save Electricity were Indian Standard Time to be Advanced

Earlier estimates of electricity savings from advancing Indian Standard Time (IST) to GMT + 6:00 using regional load curves provided encouraging results of savings during evenings. This persuaded us to undertake this more accurate study involving 13 states that account for 85% of India's annual electricity consumption. As we expected, the savings obtained were higher than estimates from the five electrical regions of the country. Although advancing IST would benefit the northeastern and eastern regions, there is an apprehension that later dawns may inconvenience people in the north and northwest. In response we present data on postponement of the latest winter dawns in state capitals. We also report on the flattening of load curves in the six highest electricityconsuming states and discuss how this affects the results.