India's manufacturing PMI rises to decade high amid Covid-19 pandemic

Index stood at 58.9 in October, as companies raise output fastest in 13 years

India’s manufacturing may be back on track, rebalancing itself from the Covid-19 impact, the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data, released by IHS Markit on Monday, shows.

India’s manufacturing PMI rose to 58.9 in October, the highest it has achieved in more than a decade.

Driven by robust sales, the pace gathered by manufacturing output--a crucial component of the headline PMI--was the quickest since October 2007, contributing to the PMI’s gains, the monthly report by IHS Markit said.

Headline PMI went past 56.8, seen in September, which was an eight-year high.

A PMI value above 50 indicates that activity expanded in