Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- A tropical cyclone strengthened over the Arabian Sea off the west coast of India, prompting evacuations and storm warnings, and is forecast to make landfall south of Mumbai later today.

The eye of Tropical Cyclone 04A was 126 kilometers (78 miles) south of Mumbai at 11:30 a.m. local time today, the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center said on its Web site.

The eye is forecast to cross the coast near Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, before 5:30 p.m. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were 93 kilometers per hour, up from 74 kph yesterday, as it moved north-northeast at 28 kph.

Residents of slums in low-lying areas of Mumbai were told to evacuate, Mahesh Narvekar, the head of disaster management at Municipal Corp. of Greater Mumbai, said by phone. An alert for strong winds and rain has been issued for all 24 wards of the city, which has a population of 18 million.

All schools, colleges and government offices in Mumbai will close early, the disaster management department said.

Flights to and from Mumbai airport are delayed by about 30 minutes because of bad weather, spokesman Manish Kalghatgi said today by phone.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai, India’s largest container port, said operations are unaffected by the cyclone.

Rain Forecast

The India Meteorological Department, which refers to the storm as Phyan, said more than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain may fall on coastal areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat states during the next 36 hours. Fishermen were advised not to take to sea along those coastlines.

IMD forecasters expect Phyan’s eye to come ashore between Valsad in Gujarat state north of Mumbai and Alibag to the south of the city late today.

Reliance Industries Ltd., owner of the world’s largest refining complex, and Oil & Natural Gas Corp., said they are taking steps to protect their installations in the region.

Precautions are being taken at the two refineries at Jamnagar, which are operating normally, Tushar Pania, Reliance spokesman, said by telephone today. India’s biggest oil field, which accounts for half of the country’s crude production and is owned by ONGC, may lie in the path of the storm.

The seventh and final one-day match between India and Australia, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. today in Mumbai, is unlikely to go ahead, said Ratnakar Shetty, the Chief Administrative Officer at Board of Control for Cricket in India.

“It has to be decided by the match referee and umpires,” Shetty said. “I doubt very much that the match can take place as it’s been raining and the sun hasn’t come out.”

The Australia in India ODIs 2009 series started on Oct. 25 and was due to finish today. Australia leads India 4-2.

To contact the reporters on this story: Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo at asheldrick@bloomberg.net; Sumit Sharma in Mumbai at sumitsharma@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 11, 2009 04:37 EST