Services growth picks up pace: Survey

India's services sector, a pillar of its economy, accounts for over half of the country's gross domestic product

- Rhik Kundu

India's services sector expanded faster in February after growing at its slowest in more than two years during January, a private survey released on Wednesday showed.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, rose to 59 in February from 56.5 in January, remaining comfortably above the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction. The index stood at 59.3 in December, 58.4 in November, 58.5 in October, and 57.7 in September.

According to the survey, new orders placed with Indian services companies rose faster during February, boosted by improving domestic and foreign demand.

"The uptick in growth underpinned a quicker expansion in output and a substantial increase in employment," the survey said.