MUMBAI - India is likely to receive average monsoon rains this year, the state-run weather office said on Wednesday, raising expectations of higher farm output in Asia's third-biggest economy, which is reeling from the coronavirus spread.
Monsoon rains are expected to be 100% of a long-term average, M. Rajeevan, secretary at the Ministry of Earth Sciences told a news conference.
The IMD defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96%and 104% of a 50-year average of 88 centimetres for the entire four-month season beginning June.
(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj and Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Alex Richardson) ((rajendra.jadhav@thomsonreuters.com; +91-22-68414378 ; Reuters Messaging: rajendra.jadhav.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
