India's southwest monsoon completed its advance across the entire country on Thursday after reaching the remaining parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The seasonal rains covered the country a day later than the normal date of July 8.
The monsoon took 36 days to spread across India after arriving over Kerala on June 4, three days behind its usual onset. Under normal conditions, the southwest monsoon covers the entire country in 38 days, between June 1 and July 8. It generally begins withdrawing from northwest India around September 17 before retreating completely by October 15.
Meteorologists say the timing of the monsoon's onset or its nationwide coverage does not determine the total rainfall or its spatial distribution during the four-month season. However, it plays an important role in shaping kharif sowing operations and influences farmers' crop choices, as irrigation requirements are closely linked to the timing of rainfall.
Steady rainfall over the past eight days has significantly narrowed the nationwide cumulative monsoon deficit. According to IMD data, the shortfall for the June 1-July 9 period improved from 40 per cent on June 30 to 14 per cent by Thursday.
Despite the improvement at the national level, rainfall remains unevenly distributed. Ten states—Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Goa—continue to record substantial rainfall deficits.
The uneven distribution has slowed sowing activity in these regions, weighing on the overall kharif acreage. Official data available up to July 6 showed that the area sown under kharif crops was 21 per cent lower than during the corresponding period last year. Paddy, pulses, oilseeds, millets and cotton all registered a decline in acreage compared with 2025.
The recent improvement in rainfall may not persist across several parts of the country. On Thursday, the IMD forecast a “significant reduction in rainfall activity” over central India, including Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, as well as across south peninsular India in the coming days.
The anticipated decline is expected to affect the country's ‘monsoon core zone’—the predominantly rain-fed agricultural belt that relies heavily on seasonal rainfall for farming operations.
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