NIVEDITA MUKHERJEE NEW DELHI

The manufacturing upturn was led by the fastest expansions in factory orders and production, pressure on operating capacities also intensified, highlighted by a quicker uptick in backlogs, which in turn supported job creation

- NIVEDITA MUKHERJEE

Business activity in India surged in March, boosted by manufacturing with private sector output showing the strongest increase in eight months amid a pick-up in growth at goods producers and reflecting in the  HSBC PMI Output Index which rose 61.3 in March 2024 from 60.6 in February this year. Buoyant demand conditions fuelled growth, with aggregate sales rising at a sharp and accelerated pace, led by what Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC, terms as “the strongest manufacturing output in nearly three-and-a-half years.

The manufacturing upturn was led by the fastest expansions in factory orders and production, pressure on operating capacities also intensified, highlighted by a quicker uptick in backlogs, which in turn supported job creation. At 61.3 in March, the HSBC composite PMI seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India’s manufacturing and service sectors, was inside growth territory for the 32nd month running.