India's meteorological department on Wednesday (15) said that the country will receive normal monsoon in this season.
The Southwest monsoon, that covers 75 per cent of the country, is expected to hit during June-September period.
IMD Director General M Mohapatra said that the rainfall is likely to be 100 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a model error of five per cent.
"In these difficult times of coronavirus, the good news is that the country will receive normal rainfall during June to September. This will help our agriculture sector and better crop yield. It will definitely help in economic growth of the country," said M Rajeevan, Secretary, ministry of earth sciences.
The southwest monsoon is not only crucial for farming in the country, but also for replenishing the reservoirs,and more importantly to the economy which is mostly dependent on agriculture.
Northeast monsoon is another phenomenon that brings rainfall to the Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, parts of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh during October to December.
This year the IMD also revised the dates of onset and withdrawal dates of the monsoon for several parts of the country based on the data from 1960-2019.
The previous dates were based on the data from 1901 to 1940.
However, the onset date for monsoon over Kerala, which is June 1, remains unchanged, Rajeevan said.
For the national capital, the new normal onset date for monsoon has been revised from June 23 to June 27, a delay of four days.
Similarly, dates have been revised for Mumbai and Kolkata from June 10 to 11, and for Chennai from June 1 to 4.
Last year, India had received 'above normal' rainfall.
Bob Blackman MP speaks during the event