India’s manufacturing growth hits 6-month high in Jan on sharp upturn in new export orders

India's manufacturing sector growth started the year 2025 on a strong footing and touched a six-month high in January, fuelled by the steepest upturn in exports in nearly 14 years, a monthly survey said on Monday.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from December's one-year low of 56.4 to 57.7 in January supported by the fastest upturn in new export orders since February 2011.

In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below 50 denotes contraction.

"India's final manufacturing PMI marked a six-month high in January. Domestic and export demand were both strong, supporting new orders growth," said Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC.

Goods producers attributed the substantial increase in new orders to better domestic demand and a pick-up in international sales.

Subsequently, manufacturers in India continued to scale up production volumes. The latest increase was substantial and the fastest since October 2024.

Going forward, companies turned more optimistic about output prospects, with nearly 32 per cent of firms forecasting growth and just 1 per cent expecting a reduction.

According to panel members, buoyant underlying demand, better customer relations, favourable economic conditions and marketing efforts all bode well for growth prospects.

Robust sales gains and upbeat forecasts prompted companies to recruit additional workers at the start of the fourth quarter of this fiscal year.