Photo by Gnoeee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
India’s private sector business activity gathered some pace in August after slipping to an over four-year low in July, helped by a pickup in services.
The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 54.6 in August from 54.3 the previous month, ahead of a Reuters poll median forecast of 54.3.
The services sector led the improvement, with businesses reporting a modest re-acceleration in activity and new work after their weakest growth in 53 months in July.
Manufacturing activity continued to slow, however, with the HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI falling for a third consecutive month to 52.9, its weakest level in five years.
The composite reading stayed above the 50-point line that separates growth from contraction but remained below the roughly 60 average logged earlier in 2026.
The mixed picture underscores how services are propping up overall momentum even as India’s factory sector continues to cool going into the final stretch of the year.
Export orders continued to rise at a solid pace in August, with growth reported from markets including the United States, Germany, China, Singapore and Japan.
Input cost inflation eased to its softest level in seven months, giving companies some relief on the pricing front even as overall demand growth remained modest.
Business sentiment for the year ahead improved across both the manufacturing and services sectors compared with July, according to the survey data.
The Reuters poll of economists had pegged the composite PMI at 54.3 for August, meaning the actual reading of 54.6 came in slightly above expectations.
The PMI survey is compiled by S&P Global from responses submitted by private-sector companies each month, and is closely watched as an early indicator of economic momentum ahead of official government data.
July’s composite reading of 54.3 was itself the weakest in over four years, making August’s modest uptick to 54.6 a break from what had been a multi-month slowing trend.
Photo by Gnoeee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
