India pvt sector growth at 4-month high in Oct, PMI shows

The uptick in activity was led by the services sector, with the flash services PMI rising to a four-month high of 56.2 in October from 55.2 a month ago. The flash manufacturing PMI, meanwhile, fell to 54.9 in October from a seven-month high of 55.1 in September. “The rate of job creation eased, however, and was only marginal as companies had sufficient staffing capacity to deplete outstanding business.”

Companies saw a rise in output thanks to improving market conditions and higher demand for new orders. The rate of expansion in new business rose in October, supported by the fastest rise in new business from abroad in six months. Firms received new orders from a range of markets, including the US, the United Kingdom, West Asia, and Bangladesh. Despite the sharper rises in output and new orders, companies in India were more cautious around hiring decisions in October.

Employment rose at the slowest pace this calendar year. Services staffing levels were unchanged, ending a nine-month sequence of job creation, while manufacturing workforce numbers rose slightly, S&P Global said. “Anecdotal evidence often suggested that companies were reluctant to hire additional staff as employment levels were sufficient to deal with current workloads,” S&P Global said. The rate of depletion in backlogs in October was the joint-highest in six-and-a-half years.

Moreover, the latest fall was among the sharpest since the global financial crisis, S&P Global said. The rate of growth in purchasing activity in the manufacturing sector eased in October to the slowest level since July 2021. “Nonetheless, stocks of purchases increased markedly and to the largest degree in eight months amid shortening suppliers' delivery times,” S&P Global said. Stocks of finished goods, meanwhile, rose at a record pace as companies responded to greater new orders by building inventories, keeping in mind the festive season.

Inflationary pressures eased further in October. The rate of input cost inflation slowed for the seventh consecutive month and was the lowest in almost a year. Prices rose at a slower pace across both the manufacturing and services sectors. Where input prices increased, higher steel and transportation costs were mentioned. The rate of output price inflation also eased in October and was the slowest since March 2025.

“Here too, weaker inflation was evident across both monitored sectors, with the rise in manufacturing selling prices the softest in almost four years,” S&P Global said. Companies surveyed by S&P across both manufacturing and services remained optimistic that business activity will increase over the coming year. Business confidence improved to the highest since May, but was still below the average seen during 2026 so far.