New Delhi: Driven by new orders on the back of subsiding inflation, India’s manufacturing sector activity maintained an upswing in the month of July. The country’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose at the quickest pace in eight months to 56.4 in July, according to a S&P Global survey. Manufacturing PMI had stood at 53.9 in June.
While a reading above 50 means expansion, the point below shows contraction.
Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said that the Indian manufacturing industry recorded a welcome combination of faster economic growth and softening inflation during July.
“Output expanded at the fastest pace since last November, a trend that was matched by the more forward-looking indicator new orders. Although the upturn in demand gained strength, there were clear signs that capacity pressures remained mild as backlogs rose only marginally and job creation remained subdued,” said De Lima.
The survey showed that the upturn in July was broad based by sub-sector, and led by investment goods. Further, aggregate new order intakes rose substantially in July, recovering the growth momentum lost in June.
“Although international markets contributed to the latest upturn in total order books, there was a noticeably slowdown in external sales. New export orders rose at a moderate pace that was the weakest in the current four-month period of growth,” the survey noted.
(With arrangement from Insightonlinenews)
