Order Books, Inventories and Capacity Utilisation Survey on the Manufacturing sector for Q1:2024-25

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Published on October 09, 2024

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Order Books, Inventories and Capacity Utilisation Survey on the Manufacturing sector for Q1:2024-25

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of its 66th round of the quarterly Order Books, Inventories, and Capacity Utilisation Survey (OBICUS), which was conducted during Q2:2024-25 and covered 905 manufacturing companies. The survey¹ provides a snapshot of the demand conditions in India’s manufacturing sector during April-June 2024.

Highlights:

At the aggregate level, capacity utilisation (CU) in the manufacturing sector recorded a seasonal decline to 74.0 per cent in Q1:2024-25 from 76.8 per cent in the previous quarter. The seasonally adjusted CU (CU-SA) increased by 120 basis points over this period to 75.8 per cent (Chart 1 and Table 1).

Respondents reported an increase in growth of new orders received during Q1:2024-25 on an annual (y-o-y) basis, even as they recorded seasonal decline on a sequential (q-o-q) basis ( Chart 2 and Table 2A).

As a ratio to sales, both the finished goods inventory (FGI) and the raw material inventory² (RMI) remained stable during Q1:2024-25 (Chart 3 and Table 3A).

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

ANNEX 1: Data Tables

Table 1: Capacity Utilisation
Quarter	Number of responding companies	Capacity Utilisation	Seasonally Adjusted Capacity Utilisation
Q1:2023-24	665	73.6	75.4
Q2:2023-24	752	74.0	74.5
Q3:2023-24	761	74.7	74.6
Q4:2023-24	832	76.8	74.6
Q1:2024-25	839	74.0	75.8
Note: The Seasonally Adjusted Capacity Utilisation is calculated using X13-ARIMA-SEATS (Signal Extraction in ARIMA Time Series) taking the Covid-19 lockdown quarter Q1:2020-21 as an additive outlier.

Table 2A: Order Books Growth
Quarter	Number of companies	Q-o-Q Growth # (per cent)			Y-o-Y Growth # (per cent)
Quarter	Number of companies	Backlog Orders	New Order Book	Pending Orders	Backlog Orders	New Order Book	Pending Orders
Q1:2023-24	244	-5.2	-1.3	-4.5	22.7	1.5	9.3
Q2:2023-24	245	3.1	3.5	5.6	24.1	7.3	15.7
Q3:2023-24	233	4.7	-0.4	4.1	13.7	10.1	19.0
Q4:2023-24	224	3.4	10.0	0.2	18.9	6.8	10.4
Q1:2024-25	238	2.0	-0.4	7.2	11.2	12.3	16.2
#: Growth rates are calculated using common set of companies responding in three survey rounds, namely the current quarter, one quarter ago and the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Table 2B: Average Size of Order Books
Quarter	Number of companies	Average Amount (` crore)
Quarter	Number of companies	Backlog Orders	New Order Book	Pending Orders
Q1:2023-24	244	212.0	236.2	201.2
Q2:2023-24	245	227.7	248.6	240.4
Q3:2023-24	233	228.6	252.1	238.0
Q4:2023-24	224	221.6	267.2	222.2
Q1:2024-25	238	266.4	292.5	285.8

Table 3A: Inventory to Sales Ratios
Quarter	Number of Companies	Ratio (per cent) ##
Quarter	Number of Companies	Total Inventory / Sales	Finished Goods Inventory / Sales	Raw Material Inventory / Sales
Q1:2023-24	622	63.0	24.8	24.4
Q2:2023-24	688	65.9	24.6	24.4
Q3:2023-24	714	67.7	26.8	24.8
Q4:2023-24	803	65.4	26.6	24.3
Q1:2024-25	800	67.4	26.1	24.8
##: Weighted average of industry level ratios using Gross Value Added as weights.

Table 3B: Average Sales and Inventories
Quarter	Number of Companies	Average Amount (` crore)
Quarter	Number of Companies	Sales	Total Inventory	Finished Goods Inventory	Work in progress Inventory	Raw Material Inventory
Q1:2023-24	622	1163.1	534.3	226.9	62.8	195.7
Q2:2023-24	688	1091.7	608.1	226.7	120.4	203.8
Q3:2023-24	714	1069.6	581.4	226.0	110.3	187.5
Q4:2023-24	803	1185.6	585.0	228.8	104.9	197.8
Q1:2024-25	800	1016.8	551.0	192.7	106.5	195.5

Note: The methodology for computations of order book growth and inventory to sales ratios is given in the RBI press release dated October 8, 2021 (link: https://website.rbi.org.in/web/rbi/-/publications/obicus-survey-on-the-manufacturing-sector-for-q1-2021-22-20650). Please also see footnote 2 on direct estimation of RMI since 53rd round of the survey.

[1] The survey responses are voluntary, and the results reflect the views of the respondents, which are not necessarily shared by the Reserve Bank. Results of the previous survey round were released on the Bank’s website on August 08, 2024.

[2] The estimates of raw materials inventory (including stores and spares, loose tools, stock-in-trade and other inventories) were arrived at by netting out finished goods inventory and work-in-progress inventory from total inventory. Since the 53rd round of the survey ( i.e., Q4:2020−21), however, direct data on raw material inventory (excluding stores and spares, loose tools, stock-in-trade and other inventories) are also being collected from survey respondents, in parallel. Estimates of raw materials inventory based on the additional reporting are presented here.