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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025

 

--India Aug services PMI 62.9 vs 60.5 in Jul 

--India Aug composite PMI 63.2 vs 61.1 in Jul 

--India Aug services PMI of 62.9 highest since Jun 2010 

 

NEW DELHI – India's services sector activity picked up further in August, with the HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers' Index rising to an over 15-year high of 62.9, S&P Global, which compiles PMI, said Wednesday. The increase in growth pushed inflation higher, with selling charges rising at the quickest pace in over 13 years, S&P Global said.

 

At 62.9, the final services PMI was higher than July's print of 60.5 and lower than the flash estimate of 65.6, which was released on Aug. 21. The last time services PMI was higher than the latest reading was in June 2010, at 64.0.

 

The composite PMI rose to 63.2 in August, the sharpest pace of expansion in over 17 years, from 61.1 in July. Data released Monday showed India's manufacturing PMI rose to 59.3 in August, the highest since February 2008.

 

The composite PMI for August was also lower than the preliminary figure of 65.2. A PMI reading of more than 50 denotes expansion in activity from the previous month, while a print below 50 indicates contraction.

 

The sharp rise in PMI indices follows the quicker-than-expected GDP growth of 7.8% in the June quarter. A sustained rise in economic activity should provide comfort to the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee, which left the repo rate unchanged at 5.50% in August.

 

"The broad-based expansion in international sales bolstered overall demand, which prompted Indian services firms to hire additional workers," Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC, said in the release. "Reflecting higher labour costs and robust demand conditions, both input and output prices increased substantially in August."

 

Services firms reported the quickest expansion in new orders in over 15 years in August, supported by a pick-up in the growth of new export orders, S&P Global said. Firms signalled greater demand from clients in Asia, Europe, West Asia, and the US. 

 

Higher demand, along with a rise in expenses, pushed selling prices higher for services firms in August. "Business expenses increased to the largest extent since last November. Higher labour costs featured in the qualitative part of the survey as the main source of price pressure, with a few mentions of greater transportation fees and material costs," S&P Global said. 

 

Employment growth in the services sector remained moderate in August but was higher compared to July, S&P Global said, adding that the rise was led by an increase in recruitment for part-time roles.  End

 

Reported by Shubham Rana

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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