HSBC India Services PMI®
India's service economy showed strengthened growth in September 2026, with the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index rising from 54.1 in August to 55.2 in September, signaling the strongest upturn since June. This improvement was driven by strengthening domestic demand, particularly for digital solutions, food, insurance, loans, software, transportation, tours and travel. Despite the monthly improvement, growth over the second fiscal quarter was the weakest since the three months to March 2022.
New orders increased sharply in September at the fastest rate in three months, with finance & insurance and consumer services recording the strongest expansions in both activity and sales. International demand for Indian services improved with gains reported from Germany, the UAE, the UK and the US, though growth of new export business eased to a moderate pace that was the slowest in close to three years.
Employment rose at a moderate rate in September, though softer than in August, largely reflecting reduced hiring among real estate & business services firms. Outstanding business volumes increased marginally after falling in the previous two months.
Input cost inflation retreated to its weakest pace since November 2025, marking a 10-month low. The slowdown was broad-based across all four service categories monitored, with panel members citing higher prices for food supplies, fuel, insurance premiums, maintenance, software and technology resources. The overall rate of charge inflation remained moderate and eased to its least pronounced since June, with variations across sub-sectors: increases in selling prices slowed in finance & insurance and real estate & business services, but quickened in consumer services and transport, information & communication.
Business confidence strengthened to a three-month high, with just under 16% of respondents expecting output to increase over the coming 12 months while the remainder anticipate no change from current levels. The outlook remained positive supported by resilient demand and rising customer enquiries.
The HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index reached 55.9 in September, up from 54.3 in August, indicating the strongest upturn in private sector output since June. The reinstatement of job creation in the manufacturing industry and sustained growth at service providers resulted in greater employment at the composite level. Private sector firms signaled the weakest rises in input costs and output charges in nine and three months respectively.
Data were collected from a panel of around 400 service sector companies between 7-28 September 2026, covering consumer (excluding retail), transport, information, communication, finance, insurance, real estate and business services sectors.