Manufacturing conditions improved for the ninth consecutive month in April, supported by faster expansions in output and new orders. Greater production requirements stimulated job creation and encouraged companies to engage in input buying. On the price front, inflationary pressures continued to ease in April, with the softest increases for input costs and output charges reported since September 2017 and July 2017 respectively.

The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index® (PMI®) rose from 51.0 to 51.6 in April. This was indicative of a faster improvement in the health of India's manufacturing economy than in the prior month, but pointed to a modest upturn that was weaker than the series trend. A key factor contributing to the upward movement in the headline PMI index was a solid rise in output. Output growth was solid and picked-up from March's five-month low, but remained slightly below the average for the current nine-month period of expansion. According to panellists, favourable demand conditions supported the latest upturn. Greater production in consumption and intermediate groups outweighed the decline in investment goods.

New business rose for the sixth consecutive month. Although modest, the rate of expansion accelerated since March. Panellists reported that stronger market demand led to greater client wins. As was the case with output, growth was registered in consumption and intermediate goods.

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