<p>After three months of growth, India’s manufacturing sector slowed sharply in April putting pressure on Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates in quick succession.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The manufacturing activity slowed on the back of falling demand domestically as well as abroad, Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed.<br /><br />The Index fell to a low of 50.5 in April from 52.4 in March, nearing the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction and the lowest reading of the year.<br /><br />“PMI data for India show a marked slowdown in output expansion during April, as growth of new work ground to a halt following a robust increase in the prior month,” Pollyanna De Lima, Economist at Markit and author of the report said. “A softer overall increase in output prices meanwhile, suggests a strongly competitive environment, as cost inflation in fact accelerated to the fastest since May 2015.”<br /><br />But on manufacturing jobs, the survey said, it remained broadly unchanged for the past two years.<br /> <br />Meanwhile, the government said it is taking measures to boost the manufacturing sector. These include start-up India initiative as well as Make in India programme under which 22 thrust sectors to provide major push to manufacturing have been identified.</p>
<p>After three months of growth, India’s manufacturing sector slowed sharply in April putting pressure on Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates in quick succession.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The manufacturing activity slowed on the back of falling demand domestically as well as abroad, Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed.<br /><br />The Index fell to a low of 50.5 in April from 52.4 in March, nearing the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction and the lowest reading of the year.<br /><br />“PMI data for India show a marked slowdown in output expansion during April, as growth of new work ground to a halt following a robust increase in the prior month,” Pollyanna De Lima, Economist at Markit and author of the report said. “A softer overall increase in output prices meanwhile, suggests a strongly competitive environment, as cost inflation in fact accelerated to the fastest since May 2015.”<br /><br />But on manufacturing jobs, the survey said, it remained broadly unchanged for the past two years.<br /> <br />Meanwhile, the government said it is taking measures to boost the manufacturing sector. These include start-up India initiative as well as Make in India programme under which 22 thrust sectors to provide major push to manufacturing have been identified.</p>
