Strong demand pushed the Services’ Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) to 61.2 in March, S&P Global reported on Thursday. It was 60.6 in February.
Earlier, the agency said that manufacturing PMI in March was 59.1, which is highest in 16 years. Performance of these two sectors showed strong economic activities. The latest Index also indicates that growth during the January-March quarter would be better.
“India Services Business Activity Index pointed to one of the strongest growth rates seen in over 13-and-a-half years. The upturn was largely attributed to healthy demand conditions, efficiency gains and positive sales developments.” S&P Global said in its report accompanying PMI.
PMI is derived from responses from purchasing executives of 400 companies. the index above 50 means expansion, while below 50 indicates contraction.
Ines Lam, Economist at HSBC, said that India’s services PMI rose in March, following a small dip in February, on the back of strong demand that spurred sales and business activity. “Service providers increased hiring at the fastest pace since August 2023 in order to expand production capacity. Input costs rose at a faster rate, yet service providers were able to broadly maintain margins by charging higher output prices,” she said.
