India’s services sector sees 13-and-half yr high in March

India’s services sector saw a rise in growth rate from 60.6 in February to 61.2 in March, a monthly survey showed on Thursday. This marks a 13-and-half year high and has happened primarily owing to bolstered demand conditions that are an outcome of rising sales and an overall improved show in business.

The figures are according to the seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index, or PMI, of HSBC India Services, which further elaborated that positive demand conditions, efficiency gains, and an upswing in sales development were to be accounted for the record high.

PMIs are economic indicators that make deductions based on monthly surveys of private sector firms. The HSBC India Services PMI is compiled by S&P Global and its survey result is based on reactions of at least 400 service sector companies to its questionnaire. The spurt in India’s services PMI during the month of March has, incidentally, happened after a marginal slump in February.

Manufacturers mention that there was a marked upward trend when it came to acquiring new orders during the month of March and the growth rate, among the best since June 2010, in turn prompted them to recruit more staff. “The latest increase in employment was the 22nd in as many months, and the joint-strongest since November 2022,” the survey said.

Among other notable traits is the fact that the export volume was at its best since September 2014, with survey partakers mentioning they had registered profits from markets as diverse as Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Australia and Africa.

Input prices as well as output costs rose at a faster rate during this tenure. “Input costs rose at a faster rate, yet service providers were able to broadly maintain margins by charging higher output prices,” the survey explained.

Overall, the data for March shows an obvious surge in services output all over the country, with manufacturers, producers and service providers noting an increase in growth. Although service providers expect trends to remain positive over the coming months, the reports said there was some concern owing to competition.