India likely to get average monsoon rains in 2022

Indiaislikelyto receive normalmonsoonrainsthis year, the state-run weather office said on Thursday, raising prospects of higher farm and general growth in Asia's third-biggest economy.

Therains, which usually lash the southern tip of Kerala state around June 1 and retreat by September, are expected to be 99 per centof the long-termaveragethis year, theIndiaMeteorological Department said in a statement.

New Delhi definesaverage, or normal, rainfall as ranging between 96 per centand 104 per centof a 50-yearaverageof 87 cm (35 inches)for the four-month season beginning in June.

"The encouraging forecast of a normalmonsoonin2022, coupled with healthy reservoir levels in all regions, augurs well for a timely onset of summer crop sowing," said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at rating agency ICRA, theIndian arm of Moody's.

Themonsoonis crucial for the $2.7-trillion economy, as it brings nearly 75 per centof the rain needed by farms, besides replenishing reservoirs and aquifers.

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Nearly half ofIndia's farmlandgets no irrigation and is dependent on the annualrainsfrom June to September. Farming accounts for nearly 15 per centof the economy but sustains more than half of a population of 1.3 billion.

Key cotton, soybean and sugarcane growing regions in northern parts of peninsularIndia, centralIndia, the foothills of the Himalayas and some northwestern areas arelikelytogetnormal to above normal seasonal rainfall, the IMD said.

Tea, rubber and rice growing regions in northeastIndiaand southern parts of the peninsula could receive rainfall that is below normal, it added.

Indiais the world's biggest producer of cotton and pulses and the second biggest producer of sugar, wheat and rice. It is also the world's biggest importer of edible oils such as palm and soy.

A normalmonsoonwill helpIndiamaintain rice exports and cut imports of edible oil in the next season, a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm said.