New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday predicted that the monsoon will be near-normal this year.

"India is going to have a near normal monsoon in 2019 as the south-west monsoon is likely to be near-normal," said M. Rajeevan Nair, Secretary Ministry of Earth Sciences.

He said that over a Long Period Average, they expect 96 per cent rainfall of 89 cm.

--IANS spk-bns/in