MUMBAI—Monsoon rains have advanced to cover about half of India after arriving five days later than predicted for 2014.

The rains have brought some relief to the country's major crop-growing regions.

The India Meteorological Department said late Thursday that conditions are favorable for the southwest monsoon to continue into parts of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, both major sugar producing regions. They are also likely to progress into further areas of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra—India's biggest soybean producers—during the next two days.

In contrast, India's northern area will unlikely get any respite from its current heat wave, as no significant change in temperatures are expected during the coming days.

After arriving over Kerala in early June, the monsoon usually spreads across the entire country by mid-July. The weather department projects a slightly weaker monsoon for 2014, with rainfall predicted at about 93% of the country's 50-year average. It also predicts a weak to moderate El Niño impact on the monsoon in late July or early August, which may reduce the quantity of rainfall.

India's monsoons are a vital supply of rain irrigation for most of the country's farmland. More than half of India's workforce is employed in agriculture. The government has already begun preparing contingency plans in case poor rains hit crop production.

During the last monsoon season, India received above normal levels of rainfall, helping farming output to reach a record high.

David Fuller's view

The delayed monsoon and severe heatwave in northern India is at least a small setback for the country’s GDP growth, its inflation outlook, and it may temporarily curb Narendra Modi’s more ambitious economic development programmes.