It was established during the International Meridian Conference held at Washington, D.C. in the United States.
It was determined as 5 hours, 53 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+5:53:20).
[3] In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Calcutta Time was the dominant time of the Indian part of the British empire with records of astronomical and geological events recorded in it.
[4][5] Willian Strachey, an uncle of Lytton Strachey was said to have visited Calcutta once and then "kept his own watch set resolutely to Calcutta Time, organizing the remaining fifty-six years of his life accordingly".
[6][7] James Clavell, in his novel King Rat, refers to news broadcasts as occurring in "Calcutta Time".