India’s manufacturing sector activity hits record low

The country’s manufacturing sector activity witnessed an unprecedented contraction in April amid national lockdown restrictions, following which new business orders collapsed at a record pace and firms sharply reduced their staff numbers

The PMI fell to 27.4 in April, from 51.8 in March. It reflected the sharpest deterioration in business conditions across the sector since data collection began over 15 years ago.

The index above 50 means expansion and a score below that denotes contraction.

The unprecedented contraction in April occurred due to the national lockdown restrictions. Because of that the new business orders collapsed at a record pace and firms sharply reduced their staff numbers.