Factory output, sales at 5-month high in February

India's manufacturing growth continued its uptick in February, with factory production and sales reaching a five-month high led by strongest expansion in exports since May 2022 and receding inflation, shows the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index™ (PMI) which, recovering further from December's 18-month low, rose from 56.5 in January to 56.9 in February.

- NIVEDITA MUKHER

The latest reading pointed to the strongest improvement in the health of the sector since September 2023. The sector approaches the end of the current fiscal year with a further pick-up in growth in February, according to the HSBC India PMI® Index fuelled by the quickest increase in sales since last September and the strongest expansion in new export orders for 21 months.

An associated improvement in demand for raw materials, meanwhile, supported the rebuilding of input inventories, while supplier delivery times were broadly stable.

Says Ines Lam, Economist at HSBC, "The HSBC final India Manufacturing PMI indicates that production growth continued to be strong, supported by both domestic and external demand. Buoyed by robust demand and improving profit margins, manufacturers have an optimistic outlook about future business conditions."