The Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in its ‘Quarterly Survey on Manufacturing' has stated that the overall sentiment in the manufacturing sector remains optimistic as the proportion of respondents reporting higher output growth (around 54 percent) during the January-March 2018-19 (Q4FY19) remained the same as compared to Q3 (October-December) of 2018-19. It also noted that first time in previous many quarters, the overall capacity utilisation in manufacturing has saw a surge to 80 percent in Q4FY19. It was hovering at 75 percent for last many quarters.
On hiring front, the survey stated that the outlook for the sector seems to have slightly improved for near future. It also pointed out that while in Q4 of 2017-18, 70 percent respondents mentioned that they were not likely to hire additional workforce, this percentage has come down to 62.5 percent for Q4 of 2018-19. In terms of order books, 44 percent respondents in March 2019 quarter are expecting higher number of orders as against 43 percent in Q3 2017-18 which again is a sign of revival.
Going forward, FICCI is expecting that hiring scenario will improve further as 37.5 percent respondents in Q4 2018-19 are looking at hiring more people now as compared to 30 percent in the year-ago period. FICCI's survey assessed manufacturers in 12 major sectors namely automotive, capital goods, cement and ceramics, chemicals, textiles, leather and footwear, metal and metal products, fertilisers and pharmaceuticals, and others.