India’s services sector growth surges to 13-yr high in Sep: S&P survey

New Delhi: India’s services sector grew at a robust pace in September, as a positive demand environment boosted intakes of new business and output volumes, according to the S&P Global survey released on Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose from 60.1 in August to 61.0 in September, signalling a sharp upturn in output that was one of the strongest in over 13 years.

With workloads rising and capacities experiencing mild pressure, job numbers continued to increase at a historically high rate.

Services firms retained positive expectations for activity, with sentiment improving to its highest level in over nine years, the survey stated.

September's expansion in output was commonly associated with effective marketing, favourable demand conditions and strong influxes of new business.

"The latest PMI results brought more positive news for India's service economy, with September seeing business activity and new work intakes rising to one of the greatest extents in over 13 years. Besides demand strength domestically, firms noted higher international sales to Asia, Europe and North America,” said Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

"Moreover, an upturn in business optimism about the year ahead, fuelled by buoyant demand conditions, bode well to further growth across the service sector. Unsurprisingly, job creation was sustained as the business mood improved,” Lima added.

The latest data showed a substantial increase in new business placed with Indian service providers, one that was the second-fastest since June 2010.

Anecdotal evidence indicated that market dynamics remained favourable, supporting demand.

Advertising was also cited as a key factor boosting sales.