India has forecast the weather since the India Meteorological Department (IMD) was founded in 1875 — one of the world's oldest weather services. For decades its warnings were coarse and slow. Over the 2010s the radar and satellite network grew, cyclone deaths fell sharply, and in September 2024 the government approved Mission Mausam to take forecasting to the next level.
Weather · Mission Mausam
Weather · Mission Mausam
Mission Mausam, approved in September 2024 with a ~Rs 2,000 crore outlay, is India's push to become 'weather-ready and climate-smart'. It expands the observation network — radars, balloons, buoys, even a cloud chamber — and sharpens forecasts. The counter shows India's growing Doppler radar network (illustrative).
Rs 2,000 cr
Mission outlay (2024-26)
50
New Doppler radars
12 → 6 km
Forecast resolution (target)
Doppler radars (Mission Mausam)
| Year | Doppler weather radars |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 15 |
| 2016 | 19 |
| 2018 | 24 |
| 2020 | 29 |
| 2022 | 34 |
| 2024 | 39 |
| 2026 | 70 |
2014
0
Doppler weather radars
20142026
Since 2014
Added
+55
2014
15
2026
70
Why it matters India's monsoon, cyclones, heatwaves and floods touch every farmer, fisher and city. Faster, more local forecasts save lives and crops — a one-hour cyclone warning or a sharper monsoon outlook is worth billions. Mission Mausam aims to make forecasts precise down to the village and the hour.
- Mission Mausam was approved in September 2024 with a ~Rs 2,000 crore outlay for 2024-26.
- It funds 50 new Doppler radars, 60 radiosonde stations, wind profilers, ocean buoys and a cloud chamber.
- It aims to sharpen forecast model resolution from 12 km to 6 km and cut nowcasts from 3 hours to 1.
- The IMD, which turned 150 in 2025, runs it with IITM Pune and NCMRWF.
History
Notable milestone
Mission Mausam, with a ~Rs 2,000 crore outlay for 2024-26, was launched by the Prime Minister on 14 January 2025 — the IMD's 150th anniversary. It funds 50 new Doppler radars, 60 radiosonde stations, wind profilers, ocean buoys and even a cloud chamber to study how monsoon clouds and rain form.
How it works
More sensors mean more data; faster computers turn it into sharper forecasts. The mission aims to lift model resolution from 12-km to 6-km grid blocks, compress nowcasts from three hours to one, and improve short-to-medium-range accuracy by 5-10%. It is run jointly by the IMD, IITM Pune and NCMRWF.
Outlook
Sharper forecasting is quiet infrastructure with a huge payoff — for farmers deciding when to sow, fishers deciding whether to sail, and airports, power grids and disaster agencies. The mission even explores weather-modification (cloud-seeding) research for managing rain and fog.
The road ahead
Building and calibrating a dense sensor network across a country of India's size and terrain — from the Himalayas to the deep ocean — takes years, and forecasts are only as good as the science and computing behind them. The real test is whether a farmer or fisher actually receives and trusts a village-level, hour-ahead warning in time.
By the numbers
Rs 2,000 crore outlay (2024-26). 50 new Doppler radars, 60 radiosonde stations. 12 → 6 km forecast resolution target; 3 hr → 1 hr nowcasts. IMD turned 150 in 2025. Sources: Ministry of Earth Sciences, IMD, PIB.
Source: MoES / IMD — Doppler radar network; Mission Mausam (2024) adds 50. Counter illustrative.