In November 2025, India’s manufacturing sector lost a bit of its sheen. According to a survey compiled by S&P Global for HSBC, the country’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slipped to 56.6 — down from 59.2 in October.
Key Highlights
- India’s manufacturing PMI slipped to 56.6 in November, signaling slower growth across output and new orders.
- Export demand weakened sharply due to higher US tariffs, pulling business confidence to a multi-year low.
Although the reading remains above the 50‑point threshold that denotes expansion, the drop suggests a notable cooling in the sector’s growth momentum. Key indicators such as factory output, new orders and employment all expanded at their weakest pace in months. Demand from abroad, especially export orders, took a hit — registering their slowest growth in over a year — largely due to steep tariffs imposed by the United States Department of the Treasury on goods from India.
Also Read: UPI Transactions Rise Sharply in November 2025, Showing Strong Growth
On the cost front, there was a silver lining: input‑cost inflation eased, enabling manufacturers to moderate price hikes. Still, business sentiment weakened sharply — future output expectations fell to their lowest in nearly 3.5 years as firms questioned prospects amid global trade headwinds.
In short: while India’s factories are still expanding, November’s PMI indicates a clear deceleration in industrial activity. The slowdown highlights growing external pressures — including trade tariffs and weak global demand — that are chipping away at the earlier robust momentum in manufacturing growth.
