Monsoon rains 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 per cent chance for normal rainfall and only a small probability of excessive rainfall, Jatin Singh, chief executive officer at Skymet, said.
India defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of a 50-year average of 89 cm for the entire four-month season beginning June.
The monsoon season delivers about 70 per cent of annual rainfall and is key to the success of the farm sector in Asia's third-biggest economy.
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