India’s services sector continued its strong performance in July, buoyed by a steady rise in new business orders and increased international sales, according to the latest HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).
The seasonally adjusted Services PMI stood at 60.5 in July, barely changed from 60.4 in June, reflecting a sustained and sharp expansion in business activity. This marks the strongest growth rate since August 2024, underscoring the sector’s resilience.
“At 60.5, the services PMI indicated strong growth momentum, led by a pick-up in new export orders. Future optimism rose but remains below H1 2025 levels,” said Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC.
The report attributed the growth to robust domestic demand, aggressive marketing efforts, and new client acquisitions. Advertising campaigns and overall demand buoyancy were also key contributors to the uptick in new orders, making July’s increase the second-fastest in nearly a year—just behind June.
Global demand also played a critical role. Indian service providers reported securing new work from Asia, Canada, Europe, the UAE, and the US, with external sales growth ranking as the second-highest in a year, following May.
Among the different segments, the Finance and Insurance sector led in both new orders and overall business activity. In contrast, Real Estate and Business Services showed the slowest growth.
On pricing, both input and output costs edged slightly higher compared to June. However, Bhandari noted that this trend could shift, given the signals from recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data.
-IANS