Comments
India is likely to receive normal monsoon rains in 2018, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, raising the possibility of higher farm and economic growth in Asia's third-biggest economy, where half of the farmland lacks irrigation.
Monsoon rains, the lifeblood of the country's $2 trillion economy, are expected to be 97 per cent of a long-term average, K J Ramesh, IMD’s director general, told a news conference.
He said that there was “very less probability” of a deficient monsoon. The date of onset of monsoon will be announced in the middle of May.
The monsoon is considered normal if the average rainfall is between 96 to 104 per cent of long period average. Anything less than 90 per cent of LPA is termed a ‘deficient’ monsoon, and 90-96 per cent of the same is considered ‘below normal’
The four-month monsoon season provides about 70 per cent of the country’s annual rainfall.
Other than lifting farm and wider economic growth, a wet spell will keep a lid on inflation, potentially tempting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring forward general elections due in May 2019.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.