Indian manufacturing sector growth rose to a four-month high in January driven by rising inflows of new business orders from domestic as well as export clients, a Nikkei survey said.

Following the contraction in December in the wake of Chennai floods, January saw the Indian manufacturing sector rebound into expansion territory, as production and new orders recovered, the survey said.

“The opening month of 2016 saw a rebound in new business – from both domestic and external clients – leading manufacturers in India to scale up output following a short-lived downturn recorded in December.

Levels of production and total new business also registered mild increases following contractions in the prior survey month. The consumer goods sub – sector remained the principal growth engine at the start of the year, seeing substantial expansions of both output and new orders. In contrast, producers of investment goods saw output and new orders fall, while production volumes stagnated in the intermediate goods category, the report said.

January saw further mild job creation in the Indian manufacturing sector, with headcounts added to across the consumer, intermediate and investment goods categories. Where an expansion of payroll numbers was reported, this was generally linked to rising production requirements.