India's annual monsoon, the lifeline of Asia's fourth-largest economy, is expected to hit the southern coast at its normal time in June with no indications so far of any delay, weather officials said on Monday. The June-September south-west monsoon is vital to India's economic health, with the farm sector generating about a quarter of the country's gross domestic product. "We are monitoring the onset, there is no indication of a late monsoon," a senior India Meteorological Department (IMD) official told Reuters. He said it was difficult to make a firm prediction on the date of its onset before the middle of May when most data needed to determine the time of the monsoon would be available.
"Conditions are almost the same as at this time every year," said another weather official. "There is no deviation noted."
He said at present conditions looked normal for the onset of monsoon rains over the southern Kerala coast in the first week of June.
Most of northern India and parts of the south were lashed by rains in the last few days and temperatures remained low, raising concerns that this might delay the onset of the rains.
Analysts said any long delay in the onset of the monsoon would affect sowing operations and productivity of crops. The Southeast monsoon normally hits the Kerala coast on June 1.
"Already cloudy conditions are prevalent in the South Andaman Sea, but we need to wait for data up to May 15," the IMD official said. "It is too early to say what date it will come."
Pre-monsoon showers begin about a week before the onset of the monsoon though there is no set pattern.
The weather office in April forecast normal monsoon rains this year, suggesting brisk growth for the farm-dependent economy and a boost to business confidence.
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