India’s 2026 Monsoon Ends With Worst Rainfall Deficit Since 2015, IMD Data Show
The June–September monsoon delivered about 87 per cent of the long-period average, with the east, northeast and south hit hardest, according to the India Meteorological Department.
India’s 2026 southwest monsoon has ended with the weakest rainfall in more than a decade, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) figures reported by Business Standard. The June–September season brought about 759.4 mm of rain against a normal of roughly 868.6 mm, a shortfall of about 12.6 per cent, or around 87 per cent of the long-period average (LPA). The report described it as the lowest since 2015 and the fourth-lowest since 2001.
Rainfall was uneven through the season. It stood at 65 per cent of the LPA in June, 101 per cent in July, 84 per cent in August and 92 per cent in September. The South Peninsula received 76 per cent of its average, while East India recorded 74 per cent, and East and Northeast India together received 1,016.3 mm, the lowest since 1901, the report said. Odisha was the only subdivision with excess rain, helped by low-pressure systems. Of the 36 meteorological subdivisions, 17 were deficient and 18 normal, while the monsoon core zone, which mostly grows pulses and oilseeds, received 94 per cent of its average.
The IMD attributed the weak season to El Niño, a warming of Pacific Ocean waters that tends to suppress monsoon rainfall over the subcontinent. It forecast October rain below 85 per cent of the LPA and said most of the country is likely to receive below-normal rainfall between October and December. According to the report, El Niño is expected to peak in November and begin weakening from March.
On the farm front, kharif sowing had covered about 110.7 million hectares by 25 September, only 1.2 per cent below last year, Business Standard reported. Paddy, cotton and maize were the crops most affected, and long dry spells in Maharashtra and Karnataka have raised concerns about final yields. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan named Karnataka, Maharashtra, parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and Rajasthan as the worst-affected states. Tech Times reported that Maharashtra has declared 265 talukas drought-affected, while Karnataka has reported at least 177.
Water storage presents a mixed picture. As of 24 September, reservoirs in the southern states held 50 per cent of live storage, while the national figure was 79 per cent, according to the Business Standard report. Tech Times reported that the government has set a foodgrain production target of 373.93 million tonnes for 2026–27, below the 376.56 million tonnes produced in 2025–26, and that pulses, edible oils and cotton face the sharpest price pressure, while rice is steadier because of buffer stocks.
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the monsoon reached Kerala on 4 June, three days late, and covered the whole country by 9 July. The season saw 14 low-pressure systems, including six monsoon depressions, he said, and the department put the error in its seasonal forecast at 2.6 per cent, compared with an average of 7.5 per cent over 2016–2021.
