Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of the 46th round of the Order Books, Inventories and Capacity Utilisation Survey (OBICUS) for the quarter April-June 2019 covering 818 manufacturing companies. The survey provides a snapshot of demand conditions in India’s manufacturing sector1. Highlights: 1) Capacity Utilisation (CU): At the aggregate level, CU declined to 73.6 per cent in Q1:2019-20 from 76.1 percent in Q4:2018-19, broadly tracking the de-trended index of industrial production (IIP) (Chart 1). Seasonally adjusted, CU increased by 0.3 percentage points to 74.8 per cent in Q1:2019-20.
2) Order Books: Fewer new orders were received in Q1:2019-20, marking the third successive quarter of decline in new orders. (Chart 2).
3) Finished Goods Inventory (FGI) to Sales Ratio: The FGI to sales ratio rose for the second consecutive quarter in Q1:2019-20, mainly reflecting moderation in sales as FGI remained unchanged from the preceding quarter’s level (Chart 3). 4) Raw Material Inventory (RMI) to Sales Ratio: The rise in RMI to sales ratio was on account of increase in inventories and moderation in sales (Chart 3).
Historical time series have been made available in excel format.
ANNEX 1: Data Tables
Table 1.1: IIP*-Manufacturing and Capacity Utilisation (CU) |
Quarter |
Number of responding companies |
Capacity Utilisation |
IIP-Manufacturing (Quarterly Average) |
De-trended Quarterly IIP-Manufacturing |
Q1:2018-19 |
850 |
73.8 |
127.3 |
-1.8 |
Q2:2018-19 |
818 |
74.8 |
129.9 |
-0.3 |
Q3: 2018-19 |
860 |
75.9 |
132.2 |
0.7 |
Q4: 2018-19 |
802 |
76.1 |
136.5 |
3.8 |
Q1:2019-20 |
781 |
73.6 |
130.3 |
-3.5 |
*: Index of Industrial Production (Base: 2011-12) |
Table 1.2: Order Books (Q1:2018-19 to Q1:2019-20) (Based on common set of 99 companies in 9 quarters)** |
Quarter |
Amount (₹ Crores) |
Q-o-Q Growth (%)*** |
Y-o-Y Growth (%) |
Average Backlog Orders |
Average New Order Book |
Average Pending Orders |
Average Backlog Orders |
Average New Order Book |
Average Pending Orders |
Average Backlog Orders |
Average New Order Book |
Average Pending Orders |
Q1:2018-19 |
184.8 |
182.2 |
222.6 |
-6.6 |
31.0 |
20.4 |
68.1 |
43.6 |
79.5 |
Q2:2018-19 |
222.6 |
201.6 |
268.7 |
20.5 |
10.7 |
20.7 |
79.5 |
41.1 |
79.8 |
Q3: 2018-19 |
268.8 |
164.1 |
268.2 |
20.8 |
-18.6 |
-0.2 |
79.9 |
-10.9 |
35.8 |
Q4: 2018-19 |
268.0 |
152.9 |
241.5 |
-0.3 |
-6.8 |
-10.0 |
35.5 |
10.0 |
30.7 |
Q1:2019-20 |
241.4 |
140.4 |
181.3 |
-9.9 |
-8.2 |
-24.9 |
30.7 |
-22.9 |
-18.5 |
**: As required for calculating growth rates in recent 5 quarters. ***: Not seasonally adjusted |
Table 1.3: Average Sales and Inventories (Q1:2018-19 to Q1:2019-20) (Based on common set of 362 companies in 5 quarters) |
Quarter |
Amount (₹ Crores) |
Ratio (per cent) |
Average Sales |
Average Total Inv |
Average FG Inv |
Average WiP Inv |
Average RM Inv |
Total Inv /Sales |
FG Inv /Sales |
RM Inv /Sales |
Q1:2018-19 |
1048.0 |
426.6 |
155.0 |
59.4 |
212.2 |
40.7 |
14.8 |
20.3 |
Q2:2018-19 |
1107.1 |
451.9 |
174.3 |
67.6 |
210.0 |
40.8 |
15.7 |
19.0 |
Q3: 2018-19 |
1140.9 |
403.6 |
140.1 |
56.7 |
206.8 |
35.4 |
12.3 |
18.1 |
Q4: 2018-19 |
1102.8 |
421.6 |
154.1 |
58.0 |
209.6 |
38.2 |
14.0 |
19.0 |
Q1:2019-20 |
1062.7 |
434.5 |
154.1 |
64.2 |
216.2 |
40.9 |
14.5 |
20.3 |
RM - Raw Material; WiP - Work in progress; FG - Finished Goods; Inv – Inventory. |
1The survey responses are voluntary. The 45th round of the OBICUS covering 843 manufacturing companies with reference period as January-March 2019 was released on the RBI website on August 07, 2019. |