India’s manufacturing PMI slows down to 16-month low in March

01 Apr 2013 Evaluate

Expanding at its slowest pace since November 2011, the seasonally adjusted HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index, a composite indicator of operating conditions in the manufacturing economy slowed to 52 in March against its previous reading of 54.2 in February, thereby underscoring shrinking domestic and foreign demand.

Deceleration in new orders and power outages mainly slowed the growth momentum in the manufacturing sector, with the March headline reading showing the biggest month-on-month drop since September 2011. Despite that, Indian goods-producing sector has shown output growth advancement for the forty-eight consecutive month. The PMI index has now stayed above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for almost four years.

Further, although March data signaled higher volumes of incoming new work in the Indian goods-producing sector, the growth in total new orders was the slowest in 16 months. The new orders sub-index in the survey, a reliable gauge of future output, slipped from 56.3 in February to 52.8, the weakest pace of growth since November 2011, with overall output growing at its weakest pace in more than a year. Export orders too rose slightly, however, the rate of expansion eased.

Meanwhile, input prices increased in March, but the rate of cost inflation eased to the slowest in 32 months. Input prices in the Indian manufacturing sector rose for the forty-eight consecutive month, suggesting the increased prices of raw materials and unfavorable exchange rates.

However, even as the survey suggests inflation rate easing over coming months, it also hints at the limited room for rates cut that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given the sharp uptick in headline inflation numbers and record-high current account deficit that country is dealing with. The RBI in its mid-quarter monetary policy review on March 18 reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points from 7.75 to 7.50 per cent. Further, India's current account deficit hit a record 6.7 per cent of GDP in December quarter to $32 billion.

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