S&P Global India Manufacturing PMI: Factory activity growth dips to 14-month low in February 2025 owing to cooling demand

Weakest manufacturing growth in a year, but employment rises; inflation eases; India's GDP expands; global demand boosts sector.

“The manufacturing activity grew at its weakest pace in more than a year last month owing to cooling demand, but employment generation rose at a healthy pace and inflation eased,” a private survey showed on Monday (March 3, 2025).

The softer manufacturing data suggests the growth rebound may be short-lived after the government said the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded 6.2% last quarter from 5.6% in the previous one.

Factory activity levels hit a 12-month low in December

Goods production, which accounts for less than a fifth of overall output, grew 3.5% in October-December, only a slight rise from 2.2% in the previous quarter.

The HSBC final India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, fell to 56.3 in February — its lowest since December 2023 — from 57.7 in January. A preliminary estimate was much higher at 57.1.

However, the index has been in expansionary territory — above 50 — for 44 consecutive months, the longest streak since July 2013, which marked 52 months of continuous growth.

Domestic demand waned slightly with the new orders and output sub-indexes falling to 14-month lows although factories reported an improvement in technology investment and commissioning new projects. International demand softened last month from an over 14-year high in January.