(Reuters) - Fresh showers in India's cotton-growing areas will delay its harvest by at least three weeks, boosting local prices and postponing exports to buyers in China and Pakistan, government and trade officials said.

The delay in supply from the world's second-largest producer could further fuel New York cotton prices , which hit a 15-year high on Monday.

The textile industry had expected the cotton crop to arrive on the market this week but heavy rain in the main producing states, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana, have hindered harvesting.

"Arrivals have not started in significant amount anywhere in the country," Textile Commissioner A B Joshi told Reuters.

The new crop was likely to reach the market three weeks later than first expected, said an official at the Cotton Advisory Board, a federal body drawn from farmers, industry groups, traders and the government.

India's total monsoon rain was 26 percent above normal in the week to Sept. 8, but some cotton-growing regions received up to twice normal rainfall, data from the weather office showed.

"Continuous rainfall across the state in the last fortnight has delayed crop harvesting. The crop will now come to the market after a gap of 15 days," Dilip Patel, president of the All-Gujarat Cotton Ginners' Association, told Reuters