Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India’s services sector activity kept up its high pace of growth in May, driven by a strong demand for exports, which also saw hiring of staff by firms surge to an all-time high during the month, according to the latest HDBC survey.
Registering 58.8 in May, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PM Business Activity Index — based on a single question asking how the level of business activity compares with the situation the month before — was broadly in line with April’s reading of 58.7 (PMI) and therefore signalled another sharp rate of expansion. Growth was reportedly underpinned by healthy demand conditions, new client wins and greater staffing capacity, the survey states.
Notably, companies observed a near-record improvement in international demand for their services during May. Over the course of the survey’s 19-and-a-half-year history, faster increases in new export orders were only recorded in May and June 2024. When citing sources of growth, firms mentioned Asia, Europe and North America in particular, the survey said.
Similar to the trend for output, new orders rose at a sharp pace that was largely aligned with those registered from February to April. To accommodate for ongoing expansions in new business intakes, service providers continued to recruit additional staff, the survey added.
Price gauges showed an intensification of input cost and output charge inflation, with rates of increase edging above their historical averages in each case.
Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC, said: “India registered a 58.8 services PMI in May 2025, broadly in line with the steady readings from recent months. Strong international demand continued to fuel services activity, as evidenced by the new export business index’s uptick from April.”
“To keep up with swelling demand, India’s service providers heavily increased staff recruitment. Indeed, the employment index rose to the highest reading ever recorded by this survey. Meanwhile, price pressures continued to intensify with input prices and charged prices both rising last month,” Bhandari added.
