Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The PMI data for February signalled stronger output growth as the HSBC Flash India PMI rose from 58.4 in January to 59.3 this month — indicating the strongest rate of expansion for three months, the data compiled by S& P Global showed on February 20. The acceleration was driven by a quicker upturn in factory production, as growth of services activity was broadly similar to that registered at the start of the 2026 calendar year.
“The manufacturing industry strengthened in February, supported by robust growth in output and new domestic orders,” said Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC. cAt the composite level, February’s expansion was the strongest since last September.
“Both manufacturers and service providers were optimistic about the future, despite rising inflationary pressures,” Bhandari added. Private sector companies in India welcomed quicker increases in total new orders and international sales during February, which prompted them to recruit additional staff and scale up output.
Also, businesses became more optimistic towards growth prospects. These improvements were accompanied by an intensification of inflationary pressures, with both input costs and selling charges rising at faster rates, said the report. It further stated that similar to the trend for output, aggregate new orders increased at the fastest pace since last November.
