NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's monsoon rains were 45 percent below average for the week ended June 18, weather office data showed on Thursday.
The rains were 48 percent below average in the previous week as the four-month monsoon season started around five days behind the usual date of June 1.
The rains have covered half of India four days later than the usual date, weather officials said earlier.
India's farm sector shares around 14 percent of its nearly $2 trillion economy, and two-thirds of its 1.2 billion population live in rural areas.
(Reporting by Ratnajyoti Dutta; editing by Malini Menon)
