Maximise hay when the sun shines

India needs to manage daylight much better than it does. Maximising it is also a good place to start to be more energy efficient. Not using daylight properly comes at a cost – $4.1 billion, or 0.2% of GDP, according to a Cornell study, in addition to health impacts. Experts have suggested multiple time zones in India, perhaps reverting to the pre-1947 system of two time zones, as proposed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Physical Laboratory, India’s official time keeper. But considering the huge investments required, as well as the logistical exercise of coordination, make this idea unattractive. Daylight savings is a more practical option.

Daylight savings time, or summertime, is the system of advancing clocks by an hour to get more light out of the day. This would permit using the extra hour of daylight in summer months between March and October. And it would avoid using lights on winter mornings because the sun rises later. This system will be particularly useful in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country. To further maximise use of daylight, a shift away from uniform opening hours at workplaces can be advantageous. The sun sets roughly 90 minutes later in western parts of the country than in the eastern parts. In northeast and eastern states, establishments could begin work an hour earlier than elsewhere. It would allow people here to match their working hours to environmental cues, while giving a head start to others elsewhere.

Advancing time to maximise use of daylight has energy-saving potential, which will significantly alter energy usage, cut down India’s carbon footprint and help leverage the natural resource of sunlight. It’s about maximising hay when the sun shines.