India Launches Indigenous White Rabbit Time Synchronisation Network
Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Pralhad Joshi, inaugurated the White Rabbit Technology-based Indian Standard Time (IST) – Distribution Demonstration Network on Thursday at the Regional Reference Standards Laboratory (RRSL) in Bengaluru.
This initiative is part of the 'One Nation, One Time' vision, which aims to establish a uniform, highly precise and secure time standard across India. The system is designed to eliminate reliance on foreign time sources like GPS, thereby strengthening the sovereignty of the nation's digital infrastructure.
According to the Ministry, reducing dependence on external time references will protect critical sectors from risks such as cyberattacks and data manipulation. The high-precision time synchronization technology is intended to support the stability of high-frequency financial markets, stock exchanges, digital banking payments, telecommunications networks, and national power grids.
The Legal Metrology Division of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is the nodal agency for the project, which was implemented in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), ISRO, BSNL, and SEBI. The indigenous system operates in compliance with the global Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) protocols, ensuring it meets international quality standards.
