India's flash PMI falls to 6-month low in November as demand momentum cools

The HSBC Flash India Composite Output Index, which measures the combined performance of India’s manufacturing and services sectors, stated that the combined output of India's manufacturing and service sectors remained comfortably above both the neutral mark of 50.0 and its long-run average of 54.9, signalling a strong rate of expansion. The composite index fell to a six-month low at 59.9 in November 2025, down from 60.4 in October, S&P Global’s latest data shows.

The HSBC Flash PMI data for November pointed to a substantial expansion in private sector output across India. Rates of increase for both new orders and business activity retreated to their slowest since May, however. These developments, coupled with a lack of pressure on operating capacities, curbed job creation. 

Moreover, input costs rose at the weakest rate in nearly five-and-a-half years, while output charge inflation eased to an eight-month low. Survey participants remained upbeat towards the year-ahead outlook for output, but the overall level of positive sentiment slipped to the lowest since July 2022. 

Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC, said: "The HSBC flash manufacturing PMI eased, though the improvement in operating conditions remained healthy. The rise in new export orders matched that seen in October. However, overall new orders came in soft, indicating that the GST-led boost may have peaked. Cost pressures eased considerably, and so did prices charged.”

The slowdown in growth reflected a softer increase in factory production, one that was the weakest since May. Some manufacturers reported subdued intakes of new business in November. Concurrently, the latest rise in services activity was faster than that recorded in the previous month.

The HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI – a weighted average of the New Orders, Output, Employment, Suppliers’ Delivery Times and Stocks of Purchases indices – fell from 59.2 in October to 57.4 in November, indicating the slowest improvement in the health of the sector for nine months. The current figure nevertheless stayed above its long-run average.

As was the case for output, manufacturers experienced a softer increase in new orders compared to the previous month, while demand growth ticked higher in the service economy, the survey shows. At the composite level, the latest rise in overall sales was sharp but the least pronounced in six months. Anecdotal evidence showed that the slowdown stemmed from challenges securing new business among some firms and heavy rain across parts of the country. The rate of growth in new export orders among goods producers matched that seen in October, while service providers experienced a mild loss of growth momentum. At the composite level, international sales rose at a marked pace that was the weakest since March. 

Indian private sector companies signalled an absence of capacity pressures for the second month in a row, with outstanding business volumes decreasing further during November. Only marginal declines were noted at both manufacturing and services firms, however. Elsewhere, Indian companies signalled another monthly increase in input costs, though the rate of inflation was marginal and the weakest over the near five-and-a-half-year sequence of inflation. The survey says the private sector firms in India forecast output growth in the year ahead, supported by competitive pricing strategies, marketing initiatives and capacity expansion efforts in recent months. However, the overall level of confidence fell to its lowest since mid-2022 during November.