India likely to get normal monsoon rains this year: Skymet

Monsoon rains in India are expected to be normal in 2019, the country’s only private weather forecasting agency said on Monday, raising prospects of higher farm and economic growth in the $2 trillion economy.

There is a more than 50 % chance that India will get normal rainfall and only a small probability of excessive rainfall, JatinSingh, chiefexecutive officerat Skymet, said.

India defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96 %and 104 % of a 50-year average of 89 cm for the entire four-month season beginning June.

The monsoon season delivers about 70 % of India’s annual rainfall and is key to the success of the farm sector in Asia’s third-biggest economy.

First Published: Feb 25, 2019 16:42 IST