India, June 28 -- The Delhi government plans to conduct its first-ever cloud seeding pilot between July 4 and July 11, a period when meteorological conditions are expected to be suitable for artificially inducing rainfall, environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Saturday.

The city government has received a weather report from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) indicating this as a potentially viable window. A flight map, drawn up in consultation with IIT Kanpur, has been shared with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to obtain final clearance for the experiment.

The proposed flight path, which HT has seen, shows the aircraft will fly over parts of north Delhi-including Rohini, Bawana, Alipur and Burari-as...