Indian Economy News

AI-enabled Systems introduced by IMD to provide Hyper-Local Weather forecasts: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh

India has taken another major step towards strengthening its weather forecasting ecosystem with the launch of two AI-enabled forecasting products by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh unveiled the AI-driven “Forecast of Monsoon Advance over Different Parts of the Country” and a “High Spatial Resolution Rainfall Forecast for Uttar Pradesh” pilot service. Developed jointly by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), the systems are designed to deliver hyper-local and impact-based weather services. The AI-enabled monsoon forecasting platform will provide data-driven forecasts every Wednesday up to four weeks in advance for 16 states and more than 3,000 sub-districts. The initiative aims to support farmers and policymakers with timely weather intelligence for agricultural preparedness and planning.

The newly introduced systems also mark a transition from conventional forecasting to decision-support weather services. The Uttar Pradesh pilot project will generate rainfall forecasts at 1-km spatial resolution up to 10 days in advance using AI-driven downscaling techniques and integrated datasets from Doppler Weather Radars, Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs), Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) and satellites. According to Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, India has recorded nearly 40% improvement in severe weather forecast accuracy over the past decade. The government is further strengthening the forecasting ecosystem through Mission Mausam, radar expansion, improved observational infrastructure and high-performance computing systems. The advanced forecasting services are expected to benefit agriculture, water management, renewable energy, disaster preparedness and infrastructure planning while enhancing climate resilience and citizen-centric governance.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.