Indian shares turn negative on monsoon delay fears

MUMBAI, June 25 (Reuters) - Indian shares erased gains of as much as 1.1 percent and turned negative on Thursday afternoon on fears a delay in crucial monsoon rains could hurt an already slowing economy.

The annual monsoon rains, a lifeline to the trillion-dollar economy, are expected to be below normal for the first time in four years, the government said on Wednesday. [ID:nISL48163]

At 2:13 p.m. (0843 GMT), the 30-share BSE index .BSESN was down 0.3 percent at 14,381.75 points, with 17 stocks declining, after rising to as much as 14,578.46 earlier.

The 50-share NSE index .NSEI was down 0.7 percent at 4,264.70. (Reporting by Pratish Narayanan)