FPJ News ServiceService mumbai

Growth momentum in the Indian manufacturing industry improved in April 2025, with output increasing at the fastest pace since June 2024 on the back of another strong expansion in order books, HSBC India Manufacturing PMI report compiled by S&P Global, said on Friday.

Despite rising only fractionally from 58.1 in March to 58.2 in April, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index PMI showed the strongest improvement in the health of the sector for ten months. The headline figure was spurred by faster increases in stocks of purchases, employment and production, the survey report said.

Total sales were supported by the second-fastest upturn in international orders since March 2011. This positive trend was accompanied by notable rises in employment and purchasing activity. Robust demand for Indian goods boosted firms' pricing power, with selling charges hiked to the greatest degree since October 2013. This was despite a modest uptick in input costs. 

“The notable increase in new export orders in April may indicate a potential shift in production to India, as businesses adapt to the evolving trade landscape and US tariff announcements. 

Manufacturing output growth strengthened to a ten-month high on robust orders. Input prices increased slightly faster, but the impact on margins could be more than offset by the much-faster rise in output prices, of which the index jumped to the highest level since October 2013,” said Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC. Indeed, output rose at a sharp rate that was the quickest since June 2024. Sub-sector data showed widespread expansions, with the fastest increase registered at consumer goods makers. A key factor contributing to the latest improvement in output growth was a sharp rise in new business. Little-changed from March, the rate of expansion was the second-strongest for nine months.