India's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in nearly two years in October, driven by sharp and accelerated rises in new orders, output and purchasing activity, survey figures from IHS Markit showed Tuesday.
The Nikkei Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, climbed to a 22-month high of 54.4 in October from 52.1 in September. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.
Output grew for the tenth consecutive month and at the quickest pace in almost four years.
New orders received by manufacturers rose markedly in October, with the rate of expansion was the sharpest in twenty-two months.
On the price front, input price inflation accelerated to the strongest since August 2014, driven by higher prices of wide range of goods, especially steel, plastic and petrol. As a result, the rate of output price inflation was the fastest in six months.
At the same time, purchasing activity increased at the sharpest rate in fourteen months, as companies attempted to offset the effects of marked input cost inflation by purchasing and storing a greater level of per-production items.
"The sector looks to be building on the foundation of the implied pick-up in growth in the previous quarter. Supporting this was the was the RBI's MPC announcement of a further 25 basis-point reduction in its policy rate to 6.25 percent," Pollyanna De Lima, Economist at IHS Markit, said.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com