India's factory growth at a five-month high in February, cost pressures cool
India Q3 GDP data: Indian economy grows by 8.4% in Dec quarter driven by construction, manufacturing sector Asia's third-largest and the world's fastest-growing major economy expanded 8.4% in the October-December quarter, partly helped by a surge in manufacturing, according to data released by the government on Thursday. That growth rate was much stronger than the 6.6% expansion predicted in a Reuters survey, where the highest forecast was 7.4%. The manufacturing sector, which accounts for 17% of India's economy, expanded 11.6% year-on-year last quarter.
"The HSBC final India Manufacturing PMI indicates that production growth continued to be strong, supported by both domestic and external demand," noted Ines Lam, economist at HSBC. Also Read | India's surprising GDP growth rate leaves economists puzzled. Here's why "Manufacturing firms' margins improved as input price inflation slipped to the lowest since July 2020." Driven by buoyant demand, the output and new orders sub-indexes rose to five-month highs.
Improved technology and increased sales bolstered greater output volumes, leading to an upturn in production. Global demand improved robustly and the rate of expansion was the highest in almost two years. Demand from many countries and regions picked up -- Australia, China, the United States and the United Arab Emirates were some of those cited.
Optimism about the year ahead cooled marginally, with the future output index only dipping from January when it was at its highest since December 2022. Also Read | I-Banks at the IIMs drop an optimistic note on India's economy However, a strong and positive outlook failed to generate more employment in the sector. Survey participants reported sufficient staff for the current
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