After India’s Manufacturing PMI Surges To Eight-Year High Of 55.3, Service Activity Growth Hits Seven-Year High Level

India’s services sector activity growth surged to a seven-year high in January driven by sharp rise in new orders and output, according to a private survey, reports Live Mint.

The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index rose from 53.3 in December to 55.5 in January, indicating the strongest upturn in the output in seven years.

According to the survey, the upturn was largely due to the favourable market conditions and better underlying demand.

"The Indian service sector sprung to life at the start of 2020, defying expectations of fragility and building on to the momentum gained at the end of 2019. Strong domestic demand led to expansions in new business and output not seen for seven years," said Pollyanna de Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit.

Lima added that the service providers, with the rising business revenues, continued to increase capacity to meet further strong growth in sales.

Earlier this week, the IHS Markit survey showed that manufacturing activity in India expanded at its quickest pace in nearly eight years in the month January on surge in new business and production.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) measured by IHS Markit surged from 52.7 in December 2019 to a figure of 55.3 in January, which is the highest tally recorded in manufacturing activity since February 2012.

Meanwhile, the Composite PMI Output Index that maps both the manufacturing and services sector increased from 53.7 in December to a seven-year high of 56.3 in January. .