A SEVERE cyclone is expected to hit India's west coast by noon on Thursday with wind speeds up to 120 km an hour, weather officials told Reuters. Fishermen in coastal villages have been advised not to go out to sea.

"The cyclone has not shown any movement in the past 12 hours. We are expecting it to cross coast by tomorrow noon," Shravan Kumar, deputy director general of the Bombay weather office told Reuters by telephone.

He said the storm was located about 300 km southwest of the tourist city of Goa on the western coast on Wednesday.

Weather officials said the cyclonic conditions were favourable for the onset of the annual monsoon over Kerala within the next 48 hours.

The coastal states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Goa and Lakshadweep islands were expected to receive heavy rainfall in the next 36 hours.