India's annual monsoon rains are on target and have covered most of the country, weather officials said Tuesday, as police reported another 12 people killed in weather-related incidents.

"Only some parts of extreme west Rajasthan are yet to receive rains," said R.D. Singh, director of Delhi's meteorological department.

"But as the monsoons are expected there only by July 15, there is no delay."

The monsoon rains that sweep India from June to September are crucial for the farm-dependent economy but also bring misery to millions who are displaced annually by flooding.

The monsoon, which this year hit the sub-continent earlier than usual in May, had recovered from a period of stagnation and was now drenching large parts of the country, Singh said.

He added that rain fallen so far was in line with an April forecast of a below normal monsoon, with 93 percent of the long-period average rainfall expected.

Heavy rains have been lashing India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, where police reported another 12 killed in weather-linked incidents.

"At least 12 more people died of lightning and incidents of house collapse," police spokesman Manish Awasthi told AFP in the state capital Lucknow.

The death toll in the state since the monsoons began has risen to 127, he added. The latest deaths bring the countrywide death toll to 298, according to an AFP tally based on reports by police and state officials.

The downpours caused rivers across Uttar Pradesh to flood and people to leave their houses. "The evacuation of people from the marooned villages has started," said Ambika Chaudhry, Uttar Pradesh revenue minister.

"People have been asked to leave their dilapidated houses and move to safer places."

The Taj Mahal town of Agra in Uttar Pradesh received 167 millimetres (6.57 inches) of rain on Monday alone, said a weather official, predicting further downpours in the coming days.

Heavy rain last week pounded the western state of Maharashtra, including the financial hub Mumbai which was under water for two days as workers battled to clear clogged drains and silted waterways.