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Date : Aug 01, 2018
Industrial Outlook Survey of the Manufacturing Sector for Q1:2018-19 (Revised)

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of the 82nd round of the Industrial Outlook Survey (IOS) conducted in April-June 2018. The Survey captures qualitative assessments of the business environment by companies in India’s manufacturing sector for Q1:2018-19 and their expectations for Q2:2018-191. Responses were received from 1207 companies in this round of the survey.

Highlights:

  • Respondents were less optimistic on demand conditions in Q1:2018-19 than in Q4:2017-18, as revealed in their assessment of production, order books, capacity utilisation and exports.

  • In their view, the overall financial situation deteriorated slightly on account of overseas finance. However, sentiment on the availability of finance from banks and other sources remained stable.

  • The outlook on selling price remained positive. Respondents continued to perceive a drop in profit margins due to higher input (raw material) prices and rising cost of finance.

  • Overall, business sentiment in the Indian manufacturing sector deteriorated marginally, as reflected in drop in the Business Expectations Index (BEI)2 from 112.4 in Q4:2017-18 to 108.4 in Q1:2018-19.

  • As regards their expectations for Q2: 2018-19, respondents were optimistic in the outlook on demand conditions.

  • Their sentiments on availability of finance remained stable.

  • There was a slight deterioration in the outlook on selling prices, however, profit margins are expected to remain unchanged.

  • The BEI declined from 114.6 in Q1:2018-19 to 114.1 in Q2:2018-19.

Summary Table
Net response3 (in %) comparison over previous quarter
Parameters Assessment period Expectation period
Q4:2017-18 Q1:2018-19 Q1:2018-19 Q2:2018-19
Production 27.3 25.4 29.5 33.2
Order Books 24.5 22.7 28.4 27.7
Pending Orders 10.3 7.3 7.6 4.4
Capacity Utilisation 14.8 12.0 17.9 21.6
Exports 12.5 9.1 18.6 18.5
Imports 11.0 11.2 13.8 13.3
Employment 9.4 10.9 11.1 12.9
Financial Situation (Overall) 22.4 20.7 28.0 27.9
Availability of Finance (from internal accruals) 14.7 16.0 18.2 18.6
Availability of Finance (from banks & other sources) 11.9 11.7 14.6 14.3
Availability of Finance (from overseas, if applicable) 3.4 1.4 4.3 4.4
Cost of Finance -10.3 -19.9 -12.2 -19.3
Cost of Raw Material -49.5 -53.0 -39.0 -43.4
Selling Price 6.7 11.5 10.4 8.8
Profit Margin -9.9 -10.3 -0.7 0.0
Overall Business Situation 30.2 29.6 36.9 34.6
Salary 26.6 40.0 35.0 31.6
Note: Please see the excel file for time series data

Table 1: Assessment & Expectation for Production
(Percentage responses)@
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response# Increase Decrease No change Net response#
Q1:2017-18 1250 34.5 18.5 46.9 16.0 41.5 11.7 46.8 29.9
Q2:2017-18 1141 34.9 18.5 46.6 16.4 42.2 12.0 45.8 30.2
Q3:2017-18 1299 36.8 14.7 48.5 22.0 43.4 9.1 47.5 34.3
Q4:2017-18 1250 40.7 13.4 45.9 27.3 42.5 8.4 49.2 34.1
Q1:2018-19 1207 39.4 14.0 46.6 25.4 40.4 11.0 48.6 29.5
Q2:2018-19           43.0 9.8 47.2 33.2
‘Increase’ in production is optimistic.
@:Due to rounding off percentage may not add up to 100.
#: Net Response (NR) is the difference of percentage of the respondents reporting optimism and that reporting pessimism. The range is -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion and any value less than zero indicates contraction.

Table 2: Assessment & Expectation for Order Books
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 32.7 19.0 48.3 13.7 39.6 11.5 48.9 28.0
Q2:2017-18 1141 31.8 19.7 48.5 12.1 39.7 11.7 48.6 28.0
Q3:2017-18 1299 35.4 16.2 48.4 19.2 39.6 9.6 50.8 29.9
Q4:2017-18 1250 38.9 14.4 46.6 24.5 40.5 10.2 49.2 30.3
Q1:2018-19 1207 36.2 13.5 50.3 22.7 38.8 10.4 50.8 28.4
Q2:2018-19           38.4 10.8 50.8 27.7
‘Increase’ in order books is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 3: Assessment & Expectation for Pending Orders
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Above Normal Below Normal Normal Net response Above Normal Below Normal Normal Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 5.7 17.0 77.3 11.3 4.9 13.4 81.8 8.5
Q2:2017-18 1141 4.2 17.9 77.9 13.7 6.5 12.5 81.0 6.0
Q3:2017-18 1299 6.7 16.2 77.1 9.5 4.7 11.4 83.9 6.7
Q4:2017-18 1250 4.5 14.8 80.7 10.3 6.8 12.5 80.7 5.7
Q1:2018-19 1207 5.1 12.4 82.4 7.3 4.9 12.6 82.5 7.6
Q2:2018-19           6.3 10.7 83.0 4.4
Pending orders ‘Below Normal’ is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 4: Assessment & Expectation for Capacity Utilisation (Main Product)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 22.5 15.4 62.0 7.1 28.1 10.9 61.0 17.2
Q2:2017-18 1141 22.9 15.8 61.3 7.1 27.6 11.3 61.1 16.3
Q3:2017-18 1299 23.9 12.7 63.4 11.3 28.8 8.0 63.2 20.8
Q4:2017-18 1250 27.4 12.6 60.0 14.8 28.4 8.9 62.7 19.5
Q1:2018-19 1207 24.5 12.5 63.0 12.0 27.8 9.8 62.4 17.9
Q2:2018-19           29.3 7.7 63.0 21.6
‘Increase’ in capacity utilisation is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 5: Assessment & Expectation for Level of CU (compared to the average in last 4 quarters)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Above Normal Below Normal Normal Net response Above Normal Below Normal Normal Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 8.4 15.1 76.5 -6.7 9.9 12.2 77.9 -2.3
Q2:2017-18 1141 9.7 15.6 74.7 -6.0 9.7 10.8 79.5 -1.1
Q3:2017-18 1299 10.3 14.1 75.6 -3.8 11.4 9.6 79.0 1.8
Q4:2017-18 1250 12.6 13.5 73.9 -0.9 13.0 10.7 76.2 2.3
Q1:2018-19 1207 11.0 12.9 76.1 -2.0 13.0 10.6 76.5 2.4
Q2:2018-19           11.8 9.3 78.9 2.5
‘Above Normal’ in Level of capacity utilisation is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 6: Assessment & Expectation for Assessment of Production Capacity (with regard to expected demand in next 6 months)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
More than adequate Less than adequate Adequate Net response More than adequate Less than adequate Adequate Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 12.3 7.4 80.3 4.9 13.2 6.7 80.0 6.5
Q2:2017-18 1141 10.4 7.4 82.2 3.0 12.2 6.6 81.2 5.6
Q3:2017-18 1299 11.8 7.1 81.2 4.7 11.1 6.5 82.4 4.6
Q4:2017-18 1250 12.2 6.3 81.4 5.9 12.9 6.9 80.2 6.0
Q1:2018-19 1207 10.5 6.6 82.9 3.9 13.0 6.0 81.0 7.0
Q2:2018-19           11.3 6.0 82.7 5.2
‘More than adequate’ in Assessment of Production Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 7: Assessment & Expectation for Exports
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 22.2 18.8 59.0 3.4 26.4 11.3 62.3 15.1
Q2:2017-18 1141 24.2 15.4 60.4 8.8 27.9 11.6 60.5 16.3
Q3:2017-18 1299 22.5 14.7 62.8 7.8 27.6 8.6 63.8 19.0
Q4:2017-18 1250 26.3 13.8 59.9 12.5 25.4 8.8 65.8 16.6
Q1:2018-19 1207 23.6 14.5 61.8 9.1 28.4 9.8 61.8 18.6
Q2:2018-19           27.8 9.2 63.0 18.5
‘Increase’ in exports is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 8: Assessment & Expectation for Imports
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 17.4 10.3 72.2 7.1 17.4 7.2 75.4 10.2
Q2:2017-18 1141 17.1 8.2 74.7 8.9 18.6 7.9 73.5 10.7
Q3:2017-18 1299 18.2 9.1 72.7 9.1 17.8 5.0 77.2 12.8
Q4:2017-18 1250 19.8 8.7 71.5 11.0 19.7 6.2 74.1 13.5
Q1:2018-19 1207 19.6 8.4 72.0 11.2 19.6 5.8 74.7 13.8
Q2:2018-19           19.1 5.8 75.1 13.3
‘Increase’ in imports is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 9: Assessment & Expectation for level of Raw Materials Inventory
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Above average Below average Average Net response Above average Below average Average Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 12.2 6.7 81.2 -5.5 8.7 6.1 85.2 -2.6
Q2:2017-18 1141 13.1 6.2 80.8 -6.9 10.7 6.1 83.2 -4.6
Q3:2017-18 1299 14.6 6.0 79.4 -8.6 10.4 4.3 85.4 -6.1
Q4:2017-18 1250 14.0 5.9 80.2 -8.1 11.5 6.0 82.5 -5.5
Q1:2018-19 1207 14.6 4.9 80.5 -9.6 10.8 5.7 83.5 -5.2
Q2:2018-19           11.0 5.2 83.7 -5.8
‘Below average’ Inventory of raw materials is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 10: Assessment & Expectation for level of Finished Goods Inventory
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Above average Below average Average Net response Above average Below average Average Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 14.2 6.8 79.0 -7.5 10.7 6.4 82.9 -4.3
Q2:2017-18 1141 15.9 7.1 77.0 -8.8 11.6 6.0 82.4 -5.6
Q3:2017-18 1299 14.5 6.9 78.6 -7.6 10.0 6.2 83.8 -3.8
Q4:2017-18 1250 13.3 6.5 80.3 -6.8 10.9 6.5 82.6 -4.5
Q1:2018-19 1207 12.0 6.3 81.7 -5.7 10.4 5.8 83.9 -4.6
Q2:2018-19           9.9 5.0 85.1 -4.8
‘Below average’ Inventory of finished goods is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 11: Assessment & Expectations for Employment Outlook
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 14.6 9.2 76.2 5.5 15.9 6.6 77.6 9.3
Q2:2017-18 1141 15.5 8.2 76.3 7.3 15.2 6.5 78.3 8.7
Q3:2017-18 1299 15.8 7.4 76.8 8.4 15.8 5.3 78.9 10.4
Q4:2017-18 1250 17.5 8.1 74.4 9.4 17.0 5.3 77.7 11.7
Q1:2018-19 1207 18.1 7.2 74.6 10.9 17.7 6.6 75.7 11.1
Q2:2018-19           17.6 4.7 77.7 12.9
‘Increase’ in employment is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 12: Assessment & Expectation for Overall Financial Situation
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Better Worsen No change Net response Better Worsen No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 30.9 11.8 57.2 19.1 37.8 7.0 55.1 30.8
Q2:2017-18 1141 29.0 13.2 57.7 15.8 35.6 7.7 56.6 27.9
Q3:2017-18 1299 28.6 11.4 60.0 17.1 35.3 6.6 58.1 28.7
Q4:2017-18 1250 31.9 9.5 58.6 22.4 35.2 6.6 58.2 28.6
Q1:2018-19 1207 31.0 10.3 58.7 20.7 34.5 6.5 59.0 28.0
Q2:2018-19           35.1 7.2 57.6 27.9
‘Better’ overall financial situation is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 13: Assessment & Expectation for Working Capital Finance Requirement
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 29.3 5.7 65.0 23.6 29.4 5.1 65.5 24.4
Q2:2017-18 1141 29.7 6.3 64.1 23.4 29.4 5.7 65.0 23.7
Q3:2017-18 1299 34.4 5.0 60.6 29.4 30.5 4.1 65.4 26.4
Q4:2017-18 1250 35.5 5.3 59.2 30.1 32.4 3.6 64.0 28.8
Q1:2018-19 1207 32.4 4.8 62.8 27.7 30.8 5.3 63.9 25.4
Q2:2018-19           30.8 4.5 64.7 26.3
‘Increase’ in working capital finance is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 14: Assessment & Expectation for Availability of Finance (from Internal Accruals)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Improve Worsen No change Net response Improve Worsen No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 23.5 9.5 67.0 14.1 27.5 6.2 66.3 21.3
Q2:2017-18 1141 23.2 9.5 67.3 13.7 26.8 6.4 66.9 20.4
Q3:2017-18 1299 22.2 8.4 69.3 13.8 25.8 5.6 68.6 20.2
Q4:2017-18 1250 23.7 8.9 67.4 14.7 26.6 5.2 68.2 21.4
Q1:2018-19 1207 24.2 8.2 67.5 16.0 25.1 6.9 67.9 18.2
Q2:2018-19           25.1 6.5 68.3 18.6
‘Improvement’ in availability of finance is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 15: Assessment & Expectation for Availability of Finance (from banks & other sources)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Improve Worsen No change Net response Improve Worsen No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 21.0 6.1 72.9 14.9 24.8 4.9 70.3 19.8
Q2:2017-18 1141 19.8 6.1 74.1 13.8 21.5 4.6 73.9 17.0
Q3:2017-18 1299 19.8 5.8 74.4 14.0 18.6 4.5 77.0 14.1
Q4:2017-18 1250 18.8 7.0 74.2 11.9 20.9 4.4 74.7 16.5
Q1:2018-19 1207 19.0 7.3 73.7 11.7 20.9 6.4 72.7 14.6
Q2:2018-19           19.9 5.6 74.4 14.3
‘Improvement’ in availability of finance is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 16: Assessment & Expectation for Availability of Finance (from overseas, if applicable)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Improve Worsen No change Net response Improve Worsen No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 9.5 3.7 86.8 5.8 9.8 2.8 87.4 7.0
Q2:2017-18 1141 8.0 3.0 89.0 5.0 10.9 3.9 85.2 7.0
Q3:2017-18 1299 7.9 3.9 88.1 4.0 7.2 3.0 89.8 4.1
Q4:2017-18 1250 8.0 4.6 87.4 3.4 9.2 2.6 88.2 6.6
Q1:2018-19 1207 7.1 5.7 87.1 1.4 8.6 4.3 87.1 4.3
Q2:2018-19           9.0 4.6 86.4 4.4
‘Improvement’ in availability of finance is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 17: Assessment & Expectation for Cost of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 14.8 13.6 71.6 -1.2 15.5 12.9 71.6 -2.5
Q2:2017-18 1141 14.5 14.0 71.6 -0.5 14.7 10.9 74.5 -3.8
Q3:2017-18 1299 14.5 11.6 73.9 -3.0 14.1 11.9 74.0 -2.2
Q4:2017-18 1250 18.1 7.9 74.0 -10.3 13.9 9.8 76.3 -4.1
Q1:2018-19 1207 25.3 5.4 69.2 -19.9 18.7 6.4 74.9 -12.2
Q2:2018-19           24.1 4.8 71.1 -19.3
‘Decrease’ in cost of finance is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 18: Assessment & Expectation for Cost of Raw Materials
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 47.2 5.1 47.8 -42.1 41.9 4.1 54.0 -37.8
Q2:2017-18 1141 46.8 5.0 48.2 -41.8 40.4 4.0 55.6 -36.5
Q3:2017-18 1299 47.9 5.2 46.8 -42.7 37.6 5.7 56.7 -31.9
Q4:2017-18 1250 52.8 3.3 43.9 -49.5 38.3 4.3 57.4 -34.0
Q1:2018-19 1207 55.9 2.8 41.3 -53.0 42.7 3.7 53.6 -39.0
Q2:2018-19           46.2 2.8 50.9 -43.4
‘Decrease’ in cost of raw materials is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 19: Assessment & Expectation for Selling Price
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 20.1 15.1 64.8 5.0 21.5 9.1 69.4 12.4
Q2:2017-18 1141 16.1 16.2 67.6 -0.1 18.9 11.0 70.2 7.9
Q3:2017-18 1299 17.7 13.2 69.0 4.5 17.5 10.6 71.9 7.0
Q4:2017-18 1250 19.3 12.6 68.1 6.7 17.4 9.5 73.2 7.9
Q1:2018-19 1207 23.0 11.4 65.6 11.5 19.2 8.9 71.9 10.4
Q2:2018-19           18.5 9.6 71.9 8.8
‘Increase’ in selling price is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 20: Assessment & Expectation for Profit Margin
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 15.7 28.2 56.0 -12.5 20.2 19.2 60.6 1.0
Q2:2017-18 1141 14.5 28.5 57.1 -14.0 20.3 20.0 59.7 0.3
Q3:2017-18 1299 15.4 25.4 59.1 -10.0 19.6 17.8 62.5 1.8
Q4:2017-18 1250 16.2 26.1 57.7 -9.9 18.8 18.7 62.5 0.1
Q1:2018-19 1207 15.5 25.8 58.7 -10.3 18.0 18.7 63.3 -0.7
Q2:2018-19           18.0 18.0 64.0 0.0
‘Increase’ in profit margin is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 21: Assessment & Expectation for Overall Business Situation
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Better Worsen No change Net response Better Worsen No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 34.4 13.0 52.6 21.3 43.6 7.6 48.7 36.0
Q2:2017-18 1141 31.7 14.4 53.9 17.3 42.7 9.0 48.4 33.7
Q3:2017-18 1299 35.1 11.2 53.7 23.9 42.9 6.0 51.1 36.9
Q4:2017-18 1250 39.2 9.0 51.8 30.2 42.5 6.4 51.2 36.1
Q1:2018-19 1207 38.7 9.0 52.3 29.6 42.7 5.8 51.5 36.9
Q2:2018-19           40.5 5.9 53.6 34.6
‘Better’ Overall Business Situation is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 22: Assessment & Expectation for Salary/Other Remuneration
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectation
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2017-18 1250 42.1 2.7 55.2 39.4 38.8 2.2 59.0 36.6
Q2:2017-18 1141 36.7 2.2 61.2 34.5 34.5 2.5 63.0 32.0
Q3:2017-18 1299 29.4 2.2 68.4 27.2 25.9 2.0 72.1 23.9
Q4:2017-18 1250 28.8 2.2 69.0 26.6 25.2 2.3 72.5 22.9
Q1:2018-19 1207 42.0 2.1 55.9 40.0 36.8 1.8 61.3 35.0
Q2:2018-19           32.8 1.2 65.9 31.6
‘Increase in Salary / other remuneration’ is optimistic. Footnotes ‘@’ and ‘#’ given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table 23: Business Expectations Index (BEI)
Quarter BEI-Assessment Quarter BEI-Expectation Quarter
Q1:2017-18 105.4 114.2
Q2:2017-18 103.7 113.3
Q3:2017-18 109.8 115.0
Q4:2017-18 112.4 115.8
Q1:2018-19 108.4 114.6
Q2:2018-19   114.1

1 The survey responses are those of the respondents and are not necessarily shared by the Reserve Bank. The 81st round (Q4:2017-18) survey results were released on April 5, 2018 on the RBI website.

2 The Business Expectations Index (BEI) is a composite indicator calculated as a weighted (share of GVA of different industry group) net response of nine business indicators. The nine indicators considered for the computation of the BEI are: (1) overall business situation; (2) production; (3) order books; (4) inventory of raw material; (5) inventory of finished goods; (6) profit margins; (7) employment; (8) exports; and (9) capacity utilisation. It gives a snapshot of the business outlook in every quarter. BEI takes values between 0 and 200, and 100 is the threshold separating expansion from contraction.

3 Net Response (NR) is the difference of percentage of the respondents reporting optimism and that reporting pessimism. The range is -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/optimism and any value less than zero indicates contraction/pessimism i.e., NR = (I – D); where, I is the percentage response of ‘Increase/optimism’, and D is the percentage response of ‘Decrease/pessimism’ and E is the percentage response as ‘no change/Equal’; I+D+E=100. For example, increase in production is optimism whereas decrease in cost of raw material is optimism.

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