Cyclone Phyan headed for the west coast of India on Wednesday just days after heavy seasonal rain killed at least 39 people in the southern part of the country.

Hundreds of fishermen were ordered to head back to shore as Phyan moved in from the Arabian Sea about 250 kilometres southwest of Mumbai. Authorities in India's financial and entertainment capital closed schools and offices three hours earlier than usual on Wednesday.

Rain started pelting parts of western India and was expected to pick up intensity with winds reaching up to 90 km/h as the cyclone reaches coastal areas on Wednesday night, the India Meteorological Department said.

In neighbouring Gujarat state, authorities were considering ordering thousands of people in 12 coastal districts to safer areas, Ranjit Banerjee, a state official dealing with disaster management said.

But there was a possibility that Phyan could veer off in another direction at sea or lose strength as it heads inland after hitting central Maharashtra state and southern parts of Gujarat, she said.

Over the weekend, a landslide touched off by heavy seasonal rain killed at least 39 people in the hilly Ooty and Coonoor region of Tamil Nadu state, officials said Tuesday. Ooty is a popular tourist area but none of the victims were reported to be foreigners.

India's southern regions commonly get heavy rains in November and December.

Last month, five days of torrential rain caused severe flooding in southern India, killing 205 people and displacing 750,000.

With files from The Associated Press