India's private sector growth eases marginally in May 2026: Flash PMI

India's private sector growth eased marginally in the month of May 2026, amid weaker increases in total new orders, international sales, employment and business activity.

Further, after retreating in April, input price inflation ticked higher, but firms limited the pass-through of additional cost burdens to clients by lifting output charges to a lesser extent. Service providers outperformed manufacturers and experienced softer inflationary pressures.

According to the data report, the HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI eased from final reading of 54.7 in April to 54.3 in May, while HSBC Flash India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 58.9 in May from April’s final reading of 58.8.

Besides, the HSBC Flash India PMI Composite Output Index - a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India's manufacturing and service sectors - was down from a final reading of 58.2 in April to 58.1 in May.

The report further noted that service providers hired extra staff to the greatest extent in nearly a year. Conversely, job creation at goods producers softened from April. Besides, business confidence remained strongly positive in May, with the overall level of positive sentiment remaining above its long-run average despite retreating to a three-month low. Competitive pricing strategies, marketing efforts and hopes of better market conditions in the coming months underpinned optimism.