The quarterly survey done by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on manufacturing suggests not much positive outlook in the October-December quarter of fiscal 2017-18. On citing the survey, they figured out that the percentage of respondents reporting higher production in third quarter has fallen compared to the previous quarter.

Referring to the survey, around 47 per cent respondents reported higher output growth during the third quarter compared to 50 per cent in the second. However, the percentage of respondents reporting low production has also come down to 15 per cent from 18 per cent in the second quarter.

FICCI survey stated that the reason for such percentage of respondents is because the capacity utilization in manufacturing remains low, the inventory situation hasn’t changed much, outlook for exports seem to be relatively less optimistic and low growth is expected in sectors like textiles & technical textiles and leather & footwear.

The major constraints affecting expansion plans of the respondents are excess capacities, lower domestic demand from industrial sectors, Increasing imports, high raw material cost and high interest rates.  This trend factors include rupee appreciation impacting exports, issues related to the implementation of goods and services tax (GST) and subdued demand in several sectors.

– Apparel and Textile News, Apparel Talk, Indian Apparel