March saw strong development in India's manufacturing sector, which expanded at its quickest rate in sixteen years as a result of rising demand. Also, hiring rose at its fastest rate in the previous six months.
S&P Global's compilation of the HSBC final India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index reached its highest point since February 2008. "The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ IndexTM (PMI) increased from 56.9 in February to 59.1, a 16-year high. S&P stated that "stronger growth in new orders, output, and input stocks as well as renewed job creation reflected the notable improvement in operating conditions."
Firms scaling up purchase levels and employment returning to positive territory supplemented the outstanding result. While cost pressures did somewhat increase in March, goods makers continued to place a high premium on customer retention, raising prices to the lowest level in more than a year.
March saw the fastest growth in new orders in almost three and a half years, a strengthening of new work inflows, a rise in manufacturing output for the 33rd month and the highest level since October 2020, a quickening of growth in the consumer, intermediate, and investment goods sectors, the fastest rate of increase in purchase quantities since mid-2023, and the second-greatest increase in purchase inventories in the survey's history, with the exception of May 2023.
Although there was optimism for the next year, the sub-index declined for a second month to 63.3 as concerns about inflation affected confidence.
The administration led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is anticipated to benefit from this data in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. To boost the economy, which is the fastest-growing among its main competitors, the Modi administration is concentrating on manufacturing.
