India’s seasonally adjusted manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI)PMIIt fell to an eight-month low of 56.5 in September, according to data released by S&P Global on Tuesday.
The index was down from 57.5 in August, reflecting the slowest pace of expansion in 2024 due to intense competition.
The S&P Global report highlighted that while manufacturing activity continued to rise, the overall rate of expansion reached its lowest point since the beginning of 2024. The slowdown was particularly pronounced in the consumer and capital goods sectors, while growth in the intermediate goods sector remained stagnant.
Price pressures also eased, with inflation falling to a five-month low, mirroring a similar trend in input costs. However, despite growth in new business, positive customer demand and increased production requirements, manufacturers purchased inputs at the slowest pace of the year so far.
“Output and new orders grew at a slower pace, and the deceleration in export demand growth was particularly pronounced, as the new export orders PMI was the lowest since March 2023,” said Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC. ” at a faster rate in September, while factory gate price inflation eased, putting pressure on manufacturers’ margins.”
action Manufacturing PMI in FY25
| month | PMI (Manufacturing) |
| april | 58.8 |
| May | 57.5 |
| june | 58.3 |
| july | 58.1 |
| august | 57.5 |
| September | 56.5 |
Job creation in the manufacturing sector remained positive, but slow growth of new business helped companies manage workloads effectively. For the first time in 11 months, outstanding trading volume remained unchanged, ending a long streak of backlog accumulation, according to the S&P Global report.
Bhandari also expressed concern over weak profit growth, which could potentially impact hiring demand. “The pace of employment growth slowed for the third consecutive month,” he said.
Inventory trends were mixed. Stocks of finished goods continued to decline, extending a more than seven-year decline. However, raw material holdings increased rapidly due to improvements in lead times.
Business confidence also took a hit, with the overall level of optimism falling to the lowest since April 2024.
