Mumbai, May 5 (Bureau) Even as the geopolitical developments and elevated inflation continues to remain a cause of concern, India’s service sectors continued to gain momentum in April backed by a surge in incoming new work boosting business activity and supporting a renewed increase in employment, data shows. India’s S&P Global PMI in the month of April stood at 57.9, up from 53.6 in March.
Similarly, the composite PMI for the month of April too saw an rise from 54.3 in March to 57.6 in April. At 57.9 in April, the seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index highlighted a sharp rate of expansion that was the fastest since last November, S&P Global stated. “Faster increases in both manufacturing production and services activity contributed to a stronger expansion in private sector output across India,” it said.
It noted that output was boosted by ongoing increases in new work intakes, with private sector sales also rising at the fastest rate since last November. Also, growth accelerated at both goods producers and service providers. Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global, said, “The Indian service economy followed manufacturing in gaining growth momentum at the start of fiscal year 2022/23.” In isolation, the PMI data for the service sector were mostly encouraging, as surging demand underpinned quicker increases in new business inflows and output. “Employment rose for the first time in five months, but business sentiment was restrained by inflation concerns,” Lima added. The April data also pointed to soaring operating expenses at Indian services firms, with survey participants reporting higher chemical, food, fuel, labour, material and retail costs. Having accelerated from March, the overall rate of inflation was sharp and the second-strongest since data collection started in December 2005. “On this front, the latest results showed a resurgence in price pressures during April. Service providers reported having paid more for food, fuel and materials, with some mentions of higher wage costs also pushing up overall expenses. The overall rate of inflation quickened to the second-highest in the survey history, leading companies to hike their selling prices to the greatest extent in close to five years,” Lima added.