Mumbai, Jun 28 (IANS): In what could be alarming for the Indian investors and the policy makers a new report says that this is the weakest start to the monsoon since 2014.

The Kotak Report said that till June 26 the cumulative rainfall was 36.8 per cent below normal with the weekly rainfall 23.9 per cent below standard.

"This is the weakest start to the monsoon since 2014 when cumulative rainfall was 38.2 per cent below normal for the same period," the report said.

The other major point raised was that the basin-wise reservoir levels slipped into deficit compared to long-term average levels.

Of the larger river basins only Godavari and Indus were in surplus while Ganga, Kaveri, Krishna, Mahanadi were in deficit, the report said. Adding that overall basins and reservoirs were around 14.5 pet cent below long-term average for the week ending June 27.

On a regional cumulative basis, spatial distribution has been deficient across India. Out of the 36 sub-divisions across India, till date, three have received scanty rainfall, 28 have received deficient rainfall, three have received normal rainfall, while two have received excess rainfall, the report found.

With the ongoing rural distress a normal monsoon is of utmost importance to the Indian farmers and the investors. A massive showdown in consumption in the rural sectors has been a drag on the growth rate, which will worsen in case of a deficient monsoon.