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Date : Aug 10, 2023
Industrial Outlook Survey of the Manufacturing Sector for Q1:2023-24

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 102nd round of its industrial outlook survey (IOS). The survey encapsulates qualitative assessment of the business climate by Indian manufacturing companies for Q1:2023-24 and their expectations for Q2:2023-241 as well as outlook on selected parameters for the two subsequent quarters. In all, 1,247 companies responded in this round of the survey, which was conducted during Q1:2023-24.

Highlights:

A. Assessment for Q1:2023-24

  • Manufacturing companies reported somewhat slower improvement in demand conditions during Q1:2023-24, as revealed in their assessment on production, order books and capacity utilisation (Table A).

  • Raw material cost pressures eased during the quarter but the pressures from rising salary outgo and elevated cost of finance are assessed to have sustained.

  • Manufactures reported an uptick in selling price sentiments, with concomitant change in assessment for profit margin.

  • Overall business sentiments in the manufacturing sector remained positive; business assessment index (BAI)2 remained steady at 112.2 in Q1:2023-24 (Chart 1).

B. Expectations for Q2:2023-24

  • Respondents were more optimistic on demand conditions for Q2:2023-24, as reflected in their improved expectations on production, order book, capacity utilisation, employment and foreign trade (Table A).

  • Cost pressures from financing and wages are likely to continue during Q2:2023-24, whereas it is expected to soften a bit in the case of raw materials.

  • Manufacturers expect higher selling prices and profit margins in Q2:2023-24.

  • The business expectations index (BEI) improved to 132.5 for Q2:2023-24 from 126.4 in the previous quarter (Chart 1).

C. Expectations for Q3:2023-24 and Q4:2023-24

  • Manufacturers continue to remain optimistic on production, order books, employment, capacity utilisation and overall business situation for the second half of the financial year (Table B).

  • Input cost pressure is expected to continue with some easing and manufacturers expect that improved pricing power may enable them to raise selling price.

Table A: Summary of Net responses3 on Survey Parameters
(per cent)
Parameters Assessment period Expectation period
Q4:2022-23 Q1:2023-24 Q1:2023-24 Q2:2023-24
Production 33.0 25.3 54.8 58.0
Order Books 25.4 21.9 47.8 58.1
Pending Orders 8.9 4.9 3.4 -1.7
Capacity Utilisation 22.8 15.5 41.2 46.6
Inventory of Raw Materials -8.3 -6.3 -18.0 -29.0
Inventory of Finished Goods -8.2 -7.2 -17.2 -28.8
Exports 12.2 17.6 36.2 53.5
Imports 15.3 20.4 33.2 52.6
Employment 12.4 16.1 26.7 40.5
Financial Situation (Overall) 30.6 24.0 52.9 56.3
Availability of Finance (from internal accruals) 28.8 25.8 46.6 52.3
Availability of Finance (from banks & other sources) 23.3 20.4 40.1 49.0
Availability of Finance (from overseas, if applicable) 7.6 18.0 32.5 50.4
Cost of Finance -32.4 -32.4 -45.8 -54.2
Cost of Raw Material -59.1 -41.1 -60.9 -58.3
Salary/ Other Remuneration -21.2 -38.1 -44.3 -49.3
Selling Price 9.7 12.8 28.4 41.4
Profit Margin -5.4 -1.2 19.1 35.7
Overall Business Situation 34.4 24.9 58.3 60.7

Table B: Business Expectations of Select Parameters for extended period – Net response
(per cent)
Parameters Round 101 Round 102
Q1:2023-24 Q2:2023-24 Q3:2023-24 Q4:2023-24
Overall Business Situation 58.3 60.7 60.7 63.1
Production 54.8 58.0 58.0 60.2
Order Books 47.8 58.1 54.6 55.2
Capacity Utilisation 41.2 46.6 54.4 56.5
Employment 26.7 40.5 43.7 43.3
Cost of Raw Materials -60.9 -58.3 -49.3 -49.6
Selling Prices 28.4 41.4 45.1 46.5

Note: Please see the excel file for time series data.

Table 1: Assessment and Expectations for Production
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 36.6 14.4 48.9 22.2 70.4 4.9 24.7 65.6
Q2:2022-23 1,234 34.3 16.3 49.4 18.1 72.4 5.0 22.6 67.4
Q3:2022-23 1,356 40.5 15.4 44.1 25.1 60.8 4.6 34.5 56.2
Q4:2022-23 1,066 46.3 13.3 40.4 33.0 61.2 3.8 34.9 57.4
Q1:2023-24 1,247 39.6 14.3 46.0 25.3 60.6 5.8 33.6 54.8
Q2:2023-24           63.0 5.0 31.9 58.0
‘Increase’ in production is optimistic.
Note: The sum of components may not add up to total due to rounding off (This is applicable for all tables).

Table 2: Assessment and Expectations for Order Books
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 34.1 12.5 53.4 21.7 70.4 4.2 25.4 66.1
Q2:2022-23 1,234 30.7 12.1 57.2 18.6 72.7 4.6 22.6 68.1
Q3:2022-23 1,356 33.1 12.1 54.8 21.0 67.1 4.7 28.3 62.4
Q4:2022-23 1,066 37.2 11.8 51.0 25.4 63.3 3.9 32.8 59.4
Q1:2023-24 1,247 33.0 11.1 55.9 21.9 54.6 6.8 38.6 47.8
Q2:2023-24           63.0 4.8 32.2 58.1
‘Increase’ in order books is optimistic.

Table 3: Assessment and Expectations for Pending Orders
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Above Normal Below Normal Normal Net response Above Normal Below Normal Normal Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 6.7 14.2 79.1 7.5 8.8 10.6 80.6 1.8
Q2:2022-23 1,234 10.3 17.6 72.0 7.3 7.7 10.3 82.1 2.6
Q3:2022-23 1,356 8.4 14.6 76.9 6.2 10.8 10.1 79.2 -0.7
Q4:2022-23 1,066 4.2 13.1 82.7 8.9 8.9 10.1 81.0 1.2
Q1:2023-24 1,247 9.2 14.1 76.6 4.9 4.5 8.0 87.5 3.4
Q2:2023-24           10.9 9.2 79.9 -1.7
Pending orders ‘Below Normal’ is optimistic.

Table 4: Assessment and Expectations for Capacity Utilisation (Main Product)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 29.5 12.8 57.7 16.8 63.5 4.5 32.0 59.0
Q2:2022-23 1,234 23.4 14.8 61.8 8.6 65.6 5.0 29.4 60.6
Q3:2022-23 1,356 29.8 15.0 55.2 14.9 51.5 4.9 43.6 46.6
Q4:2022-23 1,066 34.3 11.5 54.1 22.8 51.3 4.1 44.6 47.2
Q1:2023-24 1,247 28.5 13.0 58.5 15.5 46.7 5.5 47.8 41.2
Q2:2023-24           51.8 5.2 42.9 46.6
‘Increase’ in capacity utilisation is optimistic.

Table 5: Assessment and Expectations for Level of CU (compared to the average in last 4 quarters)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Above Normal Below Normal Normal Net response Above Normal Below Normal Normal Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 19.6 10.4 70.0 9.2 39.3 5.4 55.4 33.9
Q2:2022-23 1,234 20.5 12.8 66.7 7.8 50.2 6.3 43.5 43.9
Q3:2022-23 1,356 28.7 13.2 58.1 15.5 37.0 6.1 56.9 30.9
Q4:2022-23 1,066 19.8 10.5 69.7 9.3 34.7 8.1 57.2 26.7
Q1:2023-24 1,247 31.4 10.4 58.2 21.0 23.7 6.2 70.2 17.5
Q2:2023-24           39.0 6.0 55.1 33.0
‘Above Normal’ in Level of capacity utilisation is optimistic.

Table 6: Assessment and Expectations for Assessment of Production Capacity (with regard to expected demand in next 6 months)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
More than adequate Less than adequate Adequate Net response More than adequate Less than adequate Adequate Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 25.2 7.2 67.6 18.0 42.7 3.9 53.5 38.8
Q2:2022-23 1,234 21.1 6.8 72.1 14.3 51.5 5.4 43.0 46.1
Q3:2022-23 1,356 28.9 4.4 66.7 24.6 42.9 4.5 52.7 38.4
Q4:2022-23 1,066 17.3 5.7 77.0 11.6 42.7 3.3 53.9 39.4
Q1:2023-24 1,247 25.8 5.7 68.4 20.1 25.3 3.8 70.9 21.5
Q2:2023-24           43.4 3.9 52.7 39.5
‘More than adequate’ in Assessment of Production Capacity is optimistic.

Table 7: Assessment and Expectations for Exports
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 25.5 11.2 63.4 14.3 62.4 4.4 33.2 58.0
Q2:2022-23 1,234 25.2 14.0 60.8 11.1 65.2 4.4 30.4 60.8
Q3:2022-23 1,356 25.6 17.1 57.3 8.5 61.2 5.2 33.6 56.0
Q4:2022-23 1,066 25.4 13.3 61.3 12.2 55.5 3.9 40.6 51.5
Q1:2023-24 1,247 30.1 12.5 57.4 17.6 43.0 6.8 50.2 36.2
Q2:2023-24           57.9 4.4 37.7 53.5
‘Increase’ in exports is optimistic.

Table 8: Assessment and Expectations for Imports
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 23.9 9.0 67.0 14.9 59.7 3.4 36.9 56.4
Q2:2022-23 1,234 23.5 10.1 66.4 13.4 64.5 3.2 32.3 61.3
Q3:2022-23 1,356 23.8 12.2 64.0 11.6 60.8 3.2 36.0 57.6
Q4:2022-23 1,066 22.6 7.3 70.1 15.3 54.3 2.8 42.9 51.5
Q1:2023-24 1,247 28.9 8.6 62.5 20.4 37.4 4.2 58.4 33.2
Q2:2023-24           55.8 3.2 41.0 52.6
‘Increase’ in imports is optimistic.

Table 9: Assessment and Expectations for level of Raw Materials Inventory
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Above average Below average Average Net response Above average Below average Average Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 16.8 7.0 76.1 -9.8 42.4 3.6 54.0 -38.8
Q2:2022-23 1,234 15.0 10.5 74.5 -4.6 46.1 4.6 49.3 -41.5
Q3:2022-23 1,356 18.1 7.3 74.6 -10.8 32.8 7.1 60.1 -25.7
Q4:2022-23 1,066 13.1 4.7 82.2 -8.3 32.4 5.6 62.0 -26.8
Q1:2023-24 1,247 13.4 7.1 79.5 -6.3 20.5 2.5 76.9 -18.0
Q2:2023-24           33.0 4.0 63.1 -29.0
‘Below average’ Inventory of raw materials is optimistic.

Table 10: Assessment and Expectations for level of Finished Goods Inventory
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Above average Below average Average Net response Above average Below average Average Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 16.4 7.4 76.2 -9.0 42.4 3.0 54.6 -39.5
Q2:2022-23 1,234 14.2 10.2 75.6 -4.0 45.6 4.3 50.1 -41.3
Q3:2022-23 1,356 17.1 7.7 75.2 -9.5 33.4 6.9 59.7 -26.5
Q4:2022-23 1,066 13.3 5.1 81.5 -8.2 31.9 5.8 62.3 -26.1
Q1:2023-24 1,247 14.0 6.8 79.2 -7.2 19.9 2.8 77.3 -17.2
Q2:2023-24           33.2 4.4 62.4 -28.8
‘Below average’ Inventory of finished goods is optimistic.

Table 11: Assessment and Expectations for Employment
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 23.4 8.1 68.4 15.3 52.7 2.5 44.7 50.2
Q2:2022-23 1,234 21.5 9.0 69.5 12.5 57.1 2.1 40.8 54.9
Q3:2022-23 1,356 23.0 9.4 67.7 13.6 45.0 1.2 53.9 43.8
Q4:2022-23 1,066 19.3 7.0 73.7 12.4 39.0 2.5 58.5 36.4
Q1:2023-24 1,247 25.9 9.9 64.2 16.1 29.8 3.1 67.1 26.7
Q2:2023-24           43.5 3.0 53.5 40.5
‘Increase’ in employment is optimistic.

Table 12: Assessment and Expectations for Overall Financial Situation
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Better Worsen No change Net response Better Worsen No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 33.0 12.3 54.7 20.6 69.3 3.9 26.7 65.4
Q2:2022-23 1,234 28.7 14.8 56.4 13.9 70.4 3.4 26.2 67.1
Q3:2022-23 1,356 35.6 15.5 49.0 20.1 61.4 3.8 34.8 57.7
Q4:2022-23 1,066 40.2 9.6 50.2 30.6 63.9 3.3 32.8 60.6
Q1:2023-24 1,247 36.6 12.6 50.7 24.0 56.3 3.4 40.3 52.9
Q2:2023-24           60.2 3.9 35.9 56.3
‘Better’ overall financial situation is optimistic.

Table 13: Assessment and Expectations for Working Capital Finance Requirement
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 33.4 7.9 58.7 25.5 62.8 1.4 35.7 61.4
Q2:2022-23 1,234 29.6 6.8 63.5 22.8 65.0 2.6 32.5 62.4
Q3:2022-23 1,356 35.2 7.3 57.5 27.9 51.2 1.6 47.3 49.6
Q4:2022-23 1,066 36.4 4.3 59.3 32.1 52.3 1.1 46.5 51.2
Q1:2023-24 1,247 34.8 5.8 59.4 29.1 48.0 1.9 50.0 46.1
Q2:2023-24           53.3 2.2 44.4 51.1
‘Increase’ in working capital finance is optimistic.

Table 14: Assessment and Expectations for Availability of Finance (from Internal Accruals)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Improve Worsen No change Net response Improve Worsen No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 27.8 9.7 62.4 18.1 62.4 2.5 35.2 59.9
Q2:2022-23 1,234 24.0 8.0 68.0 15.9 64.2 2.4 33.4 61.9
Q3:2022-23 1,356 31.1 9.1 59.8 21.9 51.3 2.0 46.7 49.3
Q4:2022-23 1,066 33.3 4.5 62.2 28.8 55.2 1.7 43.1 53.5
Q1:2023-24 1,247 33.2 7.4 59.4 25.8 48.7 2.0 49.3 46.6
Q2:2023-24           54.4 2.1 43.5 52.3
‘Improvement’ in availability of finance is optimistic.

Table 15: Assessment and Expectations for Availability of Finance (from banks and other sources)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Improve Worsen No change Net response Improve Worsen No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 24.8 7.6 67.5 17.2 59.3 1.5 39.2 57.8
Q2:2022-23 1,234 21.9 6.5 71.6 15.4 62.2 1.8 36.1 60.4
Q3:2022-23 1,356 26.0 9.1 64.9 17.0 56.7 1.7 41.6 55.1
Q4:2022-23 1,066 27.8 4.5 67.7 23.3 50.5 1.3 48.2 49.2
Q1:2023-24 1,247 26.5 6.1 67.4 20.4 42.2 2.1 55.7 40.1
Q2:2023-24           50.5 1.5 47.9 49.0
‘Improvement’ in availability of finance is optimistic.

Table 16: Assessment and Expectations for Availability of Finance (from overseas, if applicable)
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Improve Worsen No change Net response Improve Worsen No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 21.9 7.5 70.6 14.4 60.2 0.9 38.9 59.2
Q2:2022-23 1,234 17.4 6.8 75.8 10.6 65.8 1.2 33.0 64.6
Q3:2022-23 1,356 20.4 9.7 69.9 10.7 59.6 0.8 39.6 58.9
Q4:2022-23 1,066 11.1 3.6 85.3 7.6 51.3 1.3 47.4 50.1
Q1:2023-24 1,247 23.8 5.8 70.4 18.0 34.3 1.8 64.0 32.5
Q2:2023-24           52.4 2.0 45.7 50.4
‘Improvement’ in availability of finance is optimistic.

Table 17: Assessment and Expectations for Cost of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 30.5 6.9 62.6 -23.6 57.0 2.1 40.9 -54.9
Q2:2022-23 1,234 36.1 6.1 57.8 -30.1 65.6 1.6 32.8 -64.0
Q3:2022-23 1,356 37.0 5.9 57.1 -31.1 53.5 1.6 44.9 -51.9
Q4:2022-23 1,066 36.2 3.8 60.0 -32.4 51.6 1.1 47.3 -50.5
Q1:2023-24 1,247 36.9 4.5 58.6 -32.4 47.5 1.7 50.8 -45.8
Q2:2023-24           56.4 2.2 41.5 -54.2
‘Decrease’ in cost of finance is optimistic.

Table 18: Assessment and Expectations for Cost of Raw Materials
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 85.5 1.1 13.3 -84.4 78.2 1.2 20.6 -77.0
Q2:2022-23 1,234 77.0 4.6 18.4 -72.5 80.6 1.6 17.9 -79.0
Q3:2022-23 1,356 73.0 8.1 18.9 -64.9 66.8 2.6 30.7 -64.2
Q4:2022-23 1,066 64.5 5.4 30.2 -59.1 63.4 2.4 34.2 -60.9
Q1:2023-24 1,247 49.1 8.0 42.8 -41.1 62.6 1.7 35.8 -60.9
Q2:2023-24           60.6 2.4 37.0 -58.3
‘Decrease’ in cost of raw materials is optimistic.

Table 19: Assessment and Expectations for Salary/Other Remuneration
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 39.6 4.8 55.5 -34.8 66.3 0.7 33.0 -65.6
Q2:2022-23 1,234 30.8 4.4 64.7 -26.4 61.3 0.4 38.3 -60.8
Q3:2022-23 1,356 30.1 3.1 66.8 -27.0 46.3 0.3 53.4 -46.0
Q4:2022-23 1,066 23.1 1.9 75.0 -21.2 39.3 0.6 60.0 -38.7
Q1:2023-24 1,247 41.1 3.0 56.0 -38.1 45.2 0.9 53.9 -44.3
Q2:2023-24           49.8 0.5 49.7 -49.3
‘Decrease’ in Salary / other remuneration is optimistic.

Table 20: Assessment and Expectations for Selling Price
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 33.3 8.3 58.4 25.0 59.5 3.8 36.7 55.7
Q2:2022-23 1,234 25.1 10.7 64.2 14.4 63.4 3.2 33.4 60.3
Q3:2022-23 1,356 23.3 12.9 63.8 10.4 48.8 3.7 47.5 45.1
Q4:2022-23 1,066 21.6 11.8 66.6 9.7 43.2 3.6 53.1 39.6
Q1:2023-24 1,247 26.1 13.3 60.6 12.8 34.0 5.6 60.4 28.4
Q2:2023-24           46.9 5.4 47.7 41.4
‘Increase’ in selling price is optimistic.

Table 21: Assessment and Expectations for Profit Margin
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Increase Decrease No change Net response Increase Decrease No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 22.5 20.7 56.7 1.8 53.6 10.4 35.9 43.2
Q2:2022-23 1,234 16.2 25.5 58.2 -9.3 57.6 10.1 32.3 47.4
Q3:2022-23 1,356 17.6 26.1 56.3 -8.4 44.2 9.0 46.8 35.2
Q4:2022-23 1,066 16.2 21.6 62.1 -5.4 41.0 8.1 50.9 32.9
Q1:2023-24 1,247 20.6 21.8 57.5 -1.2 30.5 11.4 58.1 19.1
Q2:2023-24           43.8 8.1 48.1 35.7
‘Increase’ in profit margin is optimistic.

Table 22: Assessment and Expectations for Overall Business Situation
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Total response Assessment Expectations
Better Worsen No change Net response Better Worsen No change Net response
Q1:2022-23 1,239 36.0 13.8 50.2 22.3 71.8 3.8 24.4 68.0
Q2:2022-23 1,234 31.6 15.7 52.7 15.8 73.9 3.2 22.9 70.7
Q3:2022-23 1,356 37.7 17.4 44.9 20.3 63.8 4.4 31.7 59.4
Q4:2022-23 1,066 45.9 11.4 42.7 34.4 66.9 3.7 29.4 63.1
Q1:2023-24 1,247 39.9 15.0 45.1 24.9 62.4 4.0 33.6 58.3
Q2:2023-24           65.0 4.3 30.7 60.7
‘Better’ Overall Business Situation is optimistic.

Table 23: Business Sentiments
Quarter Business Assessment Index (BAI) Business Expectations Index (BEI)
Q1:2022-23 110.1 134.7
Q2:2022-23 106.7 137.5
Q3:2022-23 108.6 134.4
Q4:2022-23 112.2 132.9
Q1:2023-24 112.2 126.4
Q2:2023-24   132.5

1 The survey results reflect the respondents’ views, which are not necessarily shared by the Reserve Bank. Results of the previous survey round were released on the Bank’s website on April 06, 2023.

2 For each survey round, two summary indices are computed – one based on assessment [viz., Business Assessment Index (BAI)] and another based on expectations [viz., Business Expectations Index (BEI)]. Each index is a composite indicator calculated as a simple average of nine business parameters, where each parameter is derived as a weighted net response, weights being the share of industry groups in gross value added (GVA). The nine parameters considered 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. BAI/BEI gives a snapshot of the business outlook in every quarter and takes values between 0 and 200, with 100 being the threshold separating expansion from contraction.

3 Net Response (NR) is the difference between the percentage of respondents reporting optimism and those reporting pessimism. It ranges between -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/optimism and any value less than zero indicates contraction/pessimism. In other words, 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.e., I+D+E=100). For example, increase in production is optimism whereas decrease in cost of raw material is optimism.

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