Manufacturing PMI
PMI = Purchasing Managers' Index- How often
- Every monthFirst working day of the month, about 10:30 AM
- Next release
- Tue 1 DecIn 19 days · expected · 10:30 AM
October 2026, down from 55.1 in September 2026.
Events on this chart
Source: S&P Global, released 2 Nov 2026 · Chart: Clarity UPSC
- Previous
- 55.1Sep 2026
- Highest
- 55.1Sep 2026
- Lowest
- 54.7Oct 2026
2 readings since Sep 2026.
Story
A monthly survey of purchasing managers. Above 50 means factory activity grew from the month before.
What is happening now As of Oct 2026
The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was 54.7 in October 2026, down from 55.1 in September but still well above 50 and above its long-run average. S&P Global says output and new orders rose sharply, though a little more slowly than in September. New export orders rose at the fastest pace in six months, with sales to a broad range of countries.
Input costs rose at the slowest pace since February, and factories raised selling prices at the slowest rate in almost four years. Firms added jobs only slightly, built up stocks of inputs and finished goods, and were less confident about output over the coming year. The survey was collected from 9 to 26 October 2026.
Why it matters
The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) is the first reading of factory conditions each month. It comes out on the first working day of the next month, weeks before official output data. It shows whether more firms see orders, output and hiring rising or falling, so it can give early warning of a turn in industry.
Its parts carry their own signals. New export orders show foreign demand for Indian goods, and the input and output price indices show cost pressures that can later reach consumer prices. S&P Global, which compiles it, says central banks, financial markets and businesses follow these surveys closely.
What it is
The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) is a monthly survey of purchasing managers at about 400 manufacturers. S&P Global compiles it and HSBC sponsors it. The panel is chosen by sector and firm size to reflect each sector's contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Firms report whether output, new orders, employment, suppliers' delivery times and stocks of purchases are higher, the same or lower than a month earlier. Each question becomes a diffusion index: the share saying 'higher' plus half the share saying 'unchanged'. The headline PMI weights new orders 30%, output 25%, employment 20%, delivery times 15% and stocks 10%; the delivery-times index is inverted so that it moves the same way as the others.
Responses are collected in the second half of the month and seasonally adjusted. The figure comes out on the first working day of the next month, weeks before the official Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Survey answers are not revised later, though seasonal factors can be.
Read this number
- The publisher
- S&P Global compiles the HSBC India Purchasing Managers' Indices from monthly surveys of companies.
Terms on this page (2)
- GDP
- Gross Domestic Product
- IIP
- Index of Industrial Production
History
- Mar 2005Data collection for the India manufacturing survey begins.
- Dec 2005A services survey begins; the composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) combines it with manufacturing output.
- 3 Jan 2024HSBC becomes sponsor of S&P Global's India PMI series, published as the HSBC India Manufacturing PMI. HSBC also announces India's first Flash PMI, an early reading about a week before the final figure.
Readings
| Period | Value | Status | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | 54.7 | Final | 2 Nov 2026 |
| Sep 2026 | 55.1 | Final | 2 Nov 2026 |
For UPSC
The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) is a private survey: S&P Global compiles it and HSBC sponsors it. Know that 50 separates expansion from contraction and that it compares with the previous month; the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and the core industries index are the official output measures.