What happened

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported measures to strengthen India’s weather forecasting and early warning system. The reported upgrades include advanced technologies (high-performance computing for numerical weather prediction, modern observation networks, and AI-enabled forecasting tools) and improved forecast dissemination for both the general public and agriculture stakeholders.

Background and earlier position

IMD’s weather service framework already relies on a mix of ground observations, Doppler weather radars, upper-air observations, and meteorological satellites, plus regional and global modelling for forecast generation. For agriculture, IMD supports farmer-facing advisories through agro-meteorological services linked to medium-range forecast guidance.

What changed now (announced system upgrades and delivery reach)

MoES described several concrete additions and operationalization steps: (1) numerical weather prediction support through high-performance computing and high-resolution models under Mission Mausam; (2) the Bharat Forecasting System (BharatFS) generating forecasts at spatial resolution of 6 km; (3) Panchayat-level forecasts for nearly all Gram Panchayats via collaboration between IMD and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj; and (4) expanded farmer advisories under Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) using 130 Agrometeorological Field Units covering 127 agro-climatic zones.

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