Lok Sabha Question No. 3082 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-11
Subject: AI in Weather Forecasting
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Ms. S Jothimani, Dr. Anand Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3082

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 11 TH  MARCH, 2026

## AI IN WEATHER FORECASTING

## 3082.      MS. S JOTHIMANI:

DR. ANAND KUMAR:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is utilising Artificial Intelligence (AI) based technologies for forecasting weather conditions and seasonal changes and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  various  efforts  being  made  through  new  technologies,  mobile applications  and  digital  platforms  to  provide  accurate  and  timely  information regarding rainfall, cyclones, temperature variations and other climate conditions to farmers and fishermen;
- (c) whether Artificial Intelligence and other related technologies are being upgraded to make weather forecasting more accurate and area-specific; and
- (d) if  so,  the  details  and  the  current  status  thereof  including  the  potential  benefits expected to accrue to the farmers and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a) Yes.  The  India  Meteorological  Department  (IMD),  in  coordination  with  various centers of MoES, is utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for developing weather forecasting tools. Some of these applications are listed below:
-  Using  AI/ML-based  Advanced  Dvorak  Technique  (AiDT)  to  estimate  the intensity of cyclones.
-  Utilizing  AI/ML-based  data-driven  weather  forecasting  models  such  as  the Pangu, GraphCast weather forecasting model, and FourCastNet for generating experimental weather forecasts.
-  For weather conditions, AI supports nowcasting, bias correction, and hyper-local predictions, improving cyclone tracks and monsoon rainfall. Seasonal changes benefit from hybrid AI-physics ensembles for sub-seasonal to seasonal outlooks, incorporating ENSO-monsoon  links  and extended Indian  Monsoon  Data Assimilation and Analysis (IMDAA) reanalysis.
-  National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) integrates global AI foundation models, including Pangu-Weather, GraphCast, FourCastNet, and GenCast, on the Arunika supercomputer. These are initialized with outputs from NCMRWF's Mithuna-FS coupled model and used for rapid medium-range forecasts, probabilistic extremes (e.g., heavy rainfall, heatwaves), and downscaling to block-level resolution.
- (b) - (d)  IMD is using an AI/ML tool called 'Bhashini' to disseminate the weather-related information to all  farmers in their regional languages. The Government has taken various measures to extend real-time weather updates to rural farmers for better crop management. A weather-based crop advisory service is a step towards providing realtime information about weather updates, crop health, and appropriate measures to the farmers, enabling them to make informed decisions about various crop management practices leading to higher yields and increased income.

To  provide  real-time  weather  updates  and  early  warnings  directly  to  the mobile phones  of  the  farmers  from  climate-vulnerable  districts,  weather  forecasts  and Agromet Advisories are disseminated through a real-time mechanism or multichannel dissemination system, including print and electronic media, Doordarshan, internet, and SMS under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives.

IMD,  in  collaboration  with  the  Ministry  of  Panchayati  Raj  (MoPR),  has  recently launched Panchayat-level weather forecasts covering nearly all Gram Panchayats in India. These forecasts are accessible through digital platforms such as e-Gramswaraj (https://egramswaraj.gov.in),  Meri  Panchayat  app,  e-Manchitra  of  MoPR,  and Mausamgram of IMD, MoES (https://mausamgram.imd.gov.in). IMD developed an AI/ML-based tool called meteoGAN to give area-specific rainfall information with 300-meter spatial resolution.

Technological  advancements  have  enabled  farmers  to  receive  location-specific forecasts  and  agromet  advisories  through  mobile  apps  such  as  'Meghdoot'  and 'Mausam', and Social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. Additionally, IMD has integrated its services with IT platforms of 21 State Governments, and about 15.6 million farmers are accessing information in English and regional languages from these State Government IT platforms.

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