India, April 15 -- India is expected to receive above-average monsoon rains in 2025, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday, raising expectations of higher farm and economic growth in Asia's third-biggest economy.

M Ravichandran, secretary in the ministry of earth sciences, told a news conference that the monsoon, which usually arrives over the southern tip of Kerala around June 1 and retreats in mid-September, is expected to reach 105% of the long-term average this year, news agency Reuters reported.

The IMD defines average or normal rainfall as ranging between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 87 cm for the four-month season.

Total rainfall during the June-September window is forecast to be 105% of the long-term avera...