India is likely to receive normal monsoon rains this year, the state-run weather office said on Thursday, raising prospects of higher farm and general growth in Asia's third-biggest economy.

Monsoon rains are expected to be 99% of the long-term average, the state-run India Meteorological Department said in a statement.

New Delhi defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 87 centimetres (35 inches)for the four-month season beginning June.

The monsoon is crucial for India's USD2.7-trillion economy, as it delivers nearly 70% of the rain needed by farms, besides replenishing reservoirs and aquifers.

Nearly half of India's farmland gets no irrigation and is dependent on the annual rains from June to September. Farming accounts for nearly 15% of the economy but sustains more than half of a population of 1.3 billion.