New Delhi, April 13 -- India is likely to see below-normal monsoon rains this year, the India Meterological Department said on Monday.

"The quantity of monsoon rainfall this year is expected to reach 92 per cent of the long-period average this year," M Ravichandran, Secretary, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, said while addressing a press conference here.

He was accompanied by Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director-general of the India Meteorological Department at the briefing.

The 2026 southwest monsoon seasonal (June to September) rainfall over the country as a whole is most likely to be below normal (95-90 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA).

Quantitatively, the seasonal rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be 92 per ce...