India is in the grip of "the worst drought in 12 years", Indian Agriculture Minister Mr Ajit Singh said yesterday as the government announced a calamity relief fund had been set up for drought-hit farmers.
The Press Trust of India news agency said Mr Singh called an emergency meeting in New Delhi of agriculture ministers of 12 drought-hit Indian states.
"The worst and most widespread drought in 12 years has gripped the country.
"About 320 out of 524 districts in the affected states have been hit by an extraordinary dry spell," Mr Singh told PTI after the meeting.
The minister said that government had asked sugar mills to immediately pay outstanding dues of 10 billion rupees (more than €200m) owed to drought-hit cane growers.
India's rural credit agency, the National Agricultural Banking and Rural Development Board (NABARD), has also been instructed to "postpone its debt recovery" from drought-hit farmers, added Mr Singh.
"The assistance decided at this meeting is only preliminary and elaborate relief and financial assistance will be finalised by officials later after a thorough assessment of the ground situation," the minister said.
"Assistance under the federal Calamity Relief Fund which is normally available to farmers owning at least two hectares (4.94 acres) of land will be extended to all farmers in the drought-affected areas," he added.
The distribution of rainfall in India this year has been very uneven.
Flash floods which were triggered by monsoon rains in northeastern and western India have already killed hundreds of people and marooned thousands more.
The worst-affected states have been Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
On the other hand, central and northern India have been starved of rain.
The annual monsoons which first hit the southern state of Kerala in June this year have been particularly slow in reaching northern India, which is India's "food bowl".
"This year, states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been the worst-hit by scanty and deficient rainfall," said Mr Singh.