New Delhi, April 3 (Agency) India’s manufacturing activity expanded in the month of March, 2023, with S&P Global’s India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rising to 56.4 from 55.3 in February. A reading above 50 shows expansion while a print below it means contraction. S&P Global said that March data highlighted a further upturn in new business placed with Indian manufacturers. “Moreover, the rate of expansion was sharp and the quickest in three months.
Firms suggested that marketing efforts bore fruit. Demand resilience and competitive pricing were also cited as growth drivers,” it said on Monday. The private survey showed new export orders rose in March and the rate of expansion quickened from February, though remained slight and historically subdued. Demand resilience also encouraged firms to rebuild their input inventories during this period. India’s manufacturing sector posted a remarkable performance at the end of the final fiscal quarter, as the growth of factory orders and production quickened to the strongest in three months, according to the survey. It noted that with pressure on supply chains subsiding and raw material availability improving input cost inflation retreated to its second-lowest mark in two-and-a-half years. Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence said, “”Underlying demand for Indian goods remained strong in March, underscored by the quickest upturn in factory orders for three months. Hence, production continued to expand at a robust clip and firms stepped up their stock building efforts.”