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Indian PMI in January at 8 month high

For the second consecutive month, India's manufacturing sector has shown a robust growth with the HSBC purchasing managers index moving up to an eight month best.

The HSBC PMI, widely regarded for its accuracy, grew to 57.5 in January from last month's 54.2, global banking giant HSBC said in a release here today.

The data come amid widespread concerns about sagging economic activity in the country which is denting growth.

The survey of purchase executives from over 500 companies found a further increase in new orders in January due to general improvement in demand and market conditions.

"Activity in the manufacturing sector rebounded again in January, led by higher demand from both domestic and foreign clients, suggesting some recovery in sentiment in recent months," HSBC Chief Economist for India and Asean Leif Eskesen said.

Keeping up with the new orders, the output also grew but the backlogs increased, it said.

Staffing levels are, however, stable since the earlier month and a majority of the respondents said it was unchanged.

On the price situation, the HSBC said, "higher raw material costs were cited as the main driver of input price inflation. The rate of increase was slightly faster than in December and strong in the context of historical data."