Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his maiden budget presented to the Indian parliament on July 10, expected agricultural growth to be sustained at over 4pc this fiscal year. However, with the elusive south-west monsoon, attaining the 4pc growth target appears to be quite ambitious. The progress of the monsoon has been dismal over the first 45 days so far — from June 1 to July 15 — and the prospects of its revival appear bleak.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), which keeps promising a revival ‘over the next few days,’ there has been a massive 40pc departure from the long period average (LPA) for the country as a whole as on July 16.
