A man carrying an umbrella runs as he crosses a busy road during rain in Kolkata, India, July 10, 2018. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri
MUMBAI - India is likely to get average monsoon rains this year, a private weather forecasting agency said on Tuesday, raising prospects of higher farm and economic growth in Asia's third-biggest economy.
Monsoon rains are expected to be 98% of the long-term average, and there is a 65% chance that India will get average rainfall, Skymet said.
New Delhi defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 88 centimetres (35 inches)for the four-month season beginning June.
The state-run India Meteorological Department will announce its annual monsoon forecast later this month.
Nearly half of India's farmland, which has no irrigation cover, depends on annual June-September rains to grow crops such as rice, corn, cane, cotton and soybeans.
