May 5, 2026
NEW DELHI – The private sector manufacturing activity growth recovered in April as HSBC’s India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, which measures monthly change in manufacturing output, rose to 54.7 in April, up from 53.9 in March.
The growth was riding on the back of sharper export growth, after plummeting to a four-year low in March due to West Asia-linked disruption.
A weighted average of new orders, output, employment, suppliers’ delivery times and stocks of purchases indices was lower than the Flash India Manufacturing PMI of 55.9, released last month.
“India’s manufacturing PMI rose to 54.7 in April, up from 53.9 in March, but still marking the second slowest improvement in operating conditions in nearly four years. Spillovers from the Middle East conflict are becoming more evident, particularly through inflation: input costs increased at the fastest pace since August 2022, and output prices rose at the quickest rate in six months,” Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC, said.
Meanwhile, new export orders expanded sharply at the start of the first fiscal quarter, with the pace of growth at a seven-month high.
Industrial production growth moderated to a five-month low of 4.1% in March on back of the West Asia conflict as compared to the growth of 3.9% a year ago and a little slower than the 5.1% growth registered in February.
As per the National Statistics Office (NSO) data, the manufacturing sector, which accounts for nearly a fourth of the index, grew 4.2% in March, compared with 4% a year ago and 5.9% in February.
The cost burdens in April rose further due to higher prices of aluminium, chemicals, electrical components, fuel, leather, petroleum products and rubber.
“The overall rate of inflation climbed to its highest since August 2022. Subsequently, goods producers lifted their fees to the greatest extent in six months,” the survey noted.
