India likely to get normal monsoon rains in 2019: Skymet

New Delhi: Monsoon rains in India 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 percent chance that India will get 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 percent and 104 percent of a 50-year average of 89 cm for the entire four-month season beginning June.

The monsoon season delivers about 70 percent of India`s annual rainfall and is key to the success of the farm sector in Asia`s third-biggest economy.