The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is a Government agency and the National Meteorological Service of India, functioning under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting, and seismology in the country.
The IMD was formally established on January 15, 1875, to solve the problem of uncoordinated weather data collection following catastrophic events like the Great Calcutta Cyclone of 1864 and monsoon failures in 1866 and 1871, which led to severe famines. Its creation centralized meteorological work under a unified authority to provide early warnings.
The IMD's mechanism involves conducting observations from hundreds of stations across India and Antarctica, and processing data from India's satellite systems, such as the INSAT series. It operates from its headquarters in New Delhi and through six Regional Meteorological Centres (RMCs). Key functions include issuing long-range monsoon predictions, providing specialized services for agriculture, and seismic monitoring. The IMD also has a statutory responsibility to provide real-time data and early warnings for natural disasters under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The IMD is internationally connected as one of the six Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMC) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with the responsibility for forecasting and naming tropical cyclones in the Northern Indian Ocean region. It collaborates closely with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for satellite data.
A recent change since 2021 involved modifying the operational forecast strategy for the Southwest Monsoon to use both dynamical and statistical forecasting systems, including the Multi-Model Ensemble (MME) system. This has contributed to an improvement in forecast accuracy by 40-50% between 2014 and 2023. The IMD celebrated its 150th anniversary in January 2025, marking its long legacy of service.