Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q3:2025-26

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Published on February 06, 2026

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Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q3:2025-26

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 47th round of its quarterly Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey (SIOS) conducted during Q3:2025-26. This forward-looking survey¹ captures qualitative assessment and expectations of Indian companies engaged in the services and infrastructure sectors on a set of business parameters relating to demand conditions, price situation and other business conditions. In the latest round of the survey², 1,004 companies provided their assessment for Q3:2025-26 and expectations for Q4:2025-26 as well as outlook on key parameters for the subsequent two quarters.

Highlights:

A. Services Sector

Assessment for Q3:2025-26

Service sector firms’ assessment on overall business situation and their turnover during Q3:2025-26 remained positive though tempered a bit from that in the previous quarter (Chart 1 and Table A).
Firms assessed moderation regarding pressures from input costs and salary outgo during Q3:2025-26.
Sentiments on growth in selling prices and profit margins moderated but remained positive.

Expectations for Q4:2025-26

Respondents remained optimistic on demand conditions in Q4:2025-26, though their optimism regarding overall business situation, turnover and job landscape is marginally lower vis-à-vis the previous quarter (Chart 1 and Table A).
Pressure emanating from input costs is likely to rise during Q4:2025-26; however, pressure stemming from finance costs is expected to ease.
Services firms expect selling prices to increase; profit margin is likely to remain positive during Q4:2025-26.

Expectations for Q1:2026-27 and Q2:2026-27

Services companies expect improvement in the overall business situation, turnover and employment in the first half of the next financial year (Table C).
Input cost pressures are likely to persist for services firms; with sequential rise in selling prices.

Chart 1: Turnover of Services Companies -Net Response

Responding services firms reported that with their existing resources they were able to provide 10.1 per cent additional services during Q2:2025-26 (Table S14).

B.Infrastructure Sector

Assessment for Q3:2025-26

Infrastructure companies reported positive assessment of overall business situation and their turnover, though their sentiments moderated vis-à-vis the previous quarter (Chart 2 and Table B).
Sentiments on both full-time and part-time employment improved.
Infrastructure firms gauged higher pressures stemming from input costs, salary outgo and cost of finance.
Responding firms reported lower growth in selling prices and profit margins as compared to the previous quarter.

Expectations for Q4:2025-26

Infrastructure firms remain highly optimistic on overall business situation and demand conditions in Q4:2025-26 (Chart 2 and Table B).
Cost pressures are likely to rise further, and infrastructure firms expect improvement in the growth of selling prices and profit margins.

Expectations for Q1:2026-27 and Q2:2026-27

Responding firms expect sequential improvement in demand conditions till Q2:2026-27 (Table D).

Input cost pressures are likely to persist in the near term and growth in selling prices are expected to remain at an elevated level.

Chart 2: Turnover of Infrastructure Companies -Net Response

Summary of Net Responses³ on Survey Parameters

Table A: Services Sector

(per cent)

Parameters

Assessment period

Expectations period

Q2:2025-26*

Q3:2025-26

Q3:2025-26*

Q4:2025-26

Overall Business Situation

37.2

33.0

73.2

70.2

Turnover

37.7

32.5

74.0

69.4

Full-time Employees

20.0

20.8

49.5

46.1

Part-time Employees

18.3

18.5

48.4

45.7

Availability of Finance

27.2

22.9

57.8

52.8

Cost of Finance

-23.3

-25.4

-47.6

-45.6

Salary & Wages

-29.1

-26.8

-50.8

Cost of Inputs

-39.1

-34.7

-53.5

-55.5

Selling Price

16.0

14.6

45.8

47.1

Profit Margin

14.4

8.5

49.9

45.1

Inventories

17.6

20.1

52.7

47.3

Technical/Service Capacity

22.4

25.5

54.9

56.0

Physical Investment

19.5

22.9

55.9

54.4

*: Based on the previous round’s response.

Table B: Infrastructure Sector

(per cent)

Parameters

Assessment period

Expectations period

Q2:2025-26*

Q3:2025-26

Q3:2025-26*

Q4:2025-26

Overall Business Situation

35.2

27.3

67.8

69.8

Turnover

34.8

28.5

70.0

Full-time Employees

18.2

24.0

44.8

59.1

Part-time Employees

17.1

18.3

45.3

61.9

Availability of Finance

33.7

25.3

62.6

61.7

Cost of Finance

-25.0

-28.2

-47.4

-55.3

Salary & Wages

-26.1

-27.3

-46.2

-58.4

Cost of Inputs

-48.4

-49.3

-57.8

-68.8

Selling Price

25.0

22.2

43.6

60.8

Profit Margin

23.3

13.4

47.2

63.1

Inventories

30.8

21.6

54.5

63.2

Technical/Service Capacity

25.0

21.7

57.6

69.4

Physical Investment

30.9

25.2

66.7

72.6

*: Based on the previous round’s response.

Expectations of Select Parameters for extended period – Net response

(in per cent)

Table C: Services Sector

Parameter

Round 46

Round 47

Q3:2025-26

Q4:2025-26

Q1:2025-26

Q2:2026-27

Overall Business Situation

73.2

70.2

71.3

72.5

Turnover

74.0

69.4

73.3

Full-time Employees

49.5

46.1

51.2

50.3

Part-time Employees

48.4

45.7

50.9

50.6

Cost of Inputs

-53.5

-55.5

-56.3

-54.9

Selling Price

45.8

47.1

50.3

51.2

Table D: Infrastructure Sector

Parameter

Round 46

Round 47

Q3:2025-26

Q4:2025-26

Q1:2025-26

Q2:2026-27

Overall Business Situation

67.8

69.8

70.9

73.6

Turnover

70.0

71.1

72.5

Full-time Employees

44.8

59.1

56.5

57.8

Part-time Employees

45.3

61.9

61.4

62.2

Cost of Inputs

-57.8

-68.8

-66.7

Selling Price

43.6

60.8

66.7

65.0

Note: Please see the excel file for time series data

Service Sector

Table S1: Assessment and Expectation for Overall Business Situation

(Percentage responses)^@

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Better

No Change

Worse

Net response#

Better

No Change

Worse

Net response

Q3:24-25

42.8

48.3

8.9

33.9

70.1

27.8

2.1

68.0

Q4:24-25

42.5

49.9

7.6

34.9

71.4

26.4

2.2

69.2

Q1:25-26

45.8

44.0

10.2

35.5

71.7

26.2

2.1

69.6

Q2:25-26

46.5

44.2

9.3

37.2

60.9

36.9

2.2

58.7

Q3:25-26

43.5

46.0

10.5

33.0

74.5

24.1

1.3

73.2

Q4:25-26

71.9

26.5

1.7

70.2

‘Increase’ in Overall business situation is optimistic.
@: Due to rounding off percentage may not add up to 100.
#: Net Response (NR) is the difference of percentage of the respondents reporting optimism and that reporting pessimism. The range is -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/ optimism and any value less than zero indicates contraction/ pessimism.

Table S2: Assessment and Expectation for Turnover

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

44.8

44.0

11.2

33.5

71.9

25.2

3.0

68.9

Q4:24-25

44.9

44.4

10.7

34.3

74.1

23.3

2.6

71.6

Q1:25-26

46.8

41.8

11.4

35.4

74.8

22.7

2.5

72.3

Q2:25-26

47.4

42.8

9.7

37.7

64.0

32.4

3.7

60.3

Q3:25-26

45.0

42.4

12.5

32.5

76.2

21.7

2.1

74.0

Q4:25-26

71.9

25.6

2.5

69.4

‘Increase’ in Turnover is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S3: Assessment and Expectation for Full-time Employees

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

34.5

58.7

6.8

27.8

45.8

52.4

1.8

44.0

Q4:24-25

28.4

63.7

7.9

20.4

54.3

44.0

1.7

52.6

Q1:25-26

30.5

60.6

9.0

21.5

55.1

43.8

1.1

53.9

Q2:25-26

28.2

63.7

8.1

20.0

41.9

56.7

1.5

40.4

Q3:25-26

29.9

61.1

9.1

20.8

51.2

47.1

1.7

49.5

Q4:25-26

47.4

51.2

1.3

46.1

‘Increase’ in Full-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S4: Assessment and Expectation for Part-time Employees

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

29.7

64.4

5.9

23.8

54.1

43.8

2.1

52.1

Q4:24-25

22.5

70.7

6.8

15.8

59.0

38.9

2.2

56.8

Q1:25-26

23.4

69.3

7.3

16.1

58.0

40.6

1.5

56.5

Q2:25-26

25.5

67.2

7.3

18.3

41.9

56.1

2.1

39.8

Q3:25-26

25.3

67.9

6.8

18.5

51.1

46.1

2.7

48.4

Q4:25-26

47.7

50.2

2.0

45.7

‘Increase’ in Part-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S5: Assessment and Expectation for Availability of Finance

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Improve

No Change

Worsen

Net response

Improve

No Change

Worsen

Net response

Q3:24-25

34.7

58.9

6.4

28.3

51.4

47.2

1.4

50.1

Q4:24-25

27.9

63.9

8.2

19.7

58.0

40.6

1.4

56.6

Q1:25-26

30.1

62.8

7.0

23.1

58.4

40.2

1.4

57.0

Q2:25-26

34.2

58.7

7.0

27.2

46.1

52.2

1.7

44.4

Q3:25-26

30.7

61.4

7.8

22.9

59.5

38.9

1.7

57.8

Q4:25-26

54.3

44.3

1.5

52.8

‘Improve’ in Availability of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S6: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Finance

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

38.9

57.7

3.4

-35.4

55.9

42.5

1.6

-54.3

Q4:24-25

33.7

59.3

6.9

-26.8

61.1

37.0

1.9

-59.2

Q1:25-26

32.3

59.4

8.3

-23.9

61.5

36.4

2.0

-59.5

Q2:25-26

31.0

61.3

7.7

-23.3

44.1

51.4

4.4

-39.7

Q3:25-26

32.8

59.7

7.4

-25.4

51.6

44.4

4.0

-47.6

Q4:25-26

48.9

47.7

3.3

-45.6

‘Decrease’ in Cost of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S7: Assessment and Expectation for Salary/Wages

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

33.5

63.5

3.0

-30.4

45.0

54.5

0.5

-44.5

Q4:24-25

29.5

66.4

4.0

-25.5

55.7

43.7

0.6

-55.1

Q1:25-26

42.2

54.4

3.4

-38.8

61.9

37.7

0.4

-61.5

Q2:25-26

33.8

61.6

4.6

-29.1

43.6

55.5

0.9

-42.7

Q3:25-26

31.2

64.3

4.4

-26.8

51.9

46.9

1.2

-50.8

Q4:25-26

51.9

47.0

1.1

-50.8

‘Decrease’ in Salary/Wages is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S8: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Inputs

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

46.2

50.4

3.4

-42.7

65.6

33.1

1.3

-64.2

Q4:24-25

41.2

54.2

4.5

-36.7

69.4

30.1

0.5

-68.9

Q1:25-26

41.4

53.1

5.5

-35.9

70.1

29.0

0.9

-69.2

Q2:25-26

43.7

51.7

4.6

-39.1

54.3

44.7

1.0

-53.2

Q3:25-26

40.0

54.7

5.3

-34.7

55.3

42.9

1.8

-53.5

Q4:25-26

56.6

42.4

1.1

-55.5

‘Decrease’ in Cost of Inputs is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S9: Assessment and Expectation for Selling Price

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

29.0

64.1

6.9

22.2

50.4

47.3

2.3

48.0

Q4:24-25

21.2

72.4

6.4

14.8

57.9

39.8

2.3

55.6

Q1:25-26

22.9

69.6

7.5

15.4

57.4

41.1

1.6

55.8

Q2:25-26

23.7

68.6

7.7

16.0

39.4

58.4

2.2

37.2

Q3:25-26

23.2

68.3

8.5

14.6

48.6

2.8

45.8

Q4:25-26

49.0

2.0

47.1

‘Increase’ in Selling Price is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S10: Assessment and Expectation for Profit Margin

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

28.4

58.2

13.4

15.0

42.3

53.7

3.9

38.4

Q4:24-25

21.2

65.1

13.6

7.6

52.6

43.7

3.7

48.9

Q1:25-26

24.4

59.3

16.3

8.1

53.0

43.3

3.7

49.3

Q2:25-26

29.0

56.4

14.6

14.4

39.2

56.1

4.6

34.6

Q3:25-26

25.4

57.6

16.9

8.5

54.8

40.3

4.9

49.9

Q4:25-26

49.4

46.3

4.3

45.1

‘Increase’ in Profit Margin is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S11: Assessment and Expectation for Inventories

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

29.8

64.6

5.5

24.3

47.7

51.3

1.1

46.6

Q4:24-25

26.5

65.6

7.9

18.6

55.0

43.6

1.4

53.6

Q1:25-26

22.8

68.6

8.6

14.3

56.1

41.9

2.0

54.1

Q2:25-26

26.7

64.2

9.1

17.6

41.9

55.3

2.9

39.0

Q3:25-26

28.6

62.9

8.5

20.1

55.4

42.0

2.6

52.7

Q4:25-26

49.9

47.5

2.6

47.3

‘Increase’ in Inventories is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S12: Assessment and Expectation for Technical/Service Capacity

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

32.4

64.2

3.4

29.0

58.6

41.1

0.3

58.3

Q4:24-25

22.0

73.2

4.8

17.1

64.3

35.0

0.7

63.6

Q1:25-26

23.3

73.0

3.7

19.7

62.7

37.3

0.0

62.7

Q2:25-26

28.4

65.7

5.9

22.4

46.0

53.7

0.3

45.7

Q3:25-26

29.7

66.1

4.2

25.5

56.6

41.8

1.6

54.9

Q4:25-26

56.3

43.4

0.3

56.0

‘Increase’ in Technical/Service Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S13: Assessment and Expectation for Physical Investment

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

30.2

66.4

3.4

26.8

57.0

42.7

0.3

56.7

Q4:24-25

20.2

74.4

5.4

14.8

61.5

37.7

0.9

60.6

Q1:25-26

20.8

75.8

3.4

17.5

58.0

41.6

0.4

57.6

Q2:25-26

25.5

68.4

6.0

19.5

43.1

56.0

0.9

42.3

Q3:25-26

27.4

68.1

4.5

22.9

57.3

41.2

1.5

55.9

Q4:25-26

54.9

44.6

0.5

54.4

‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here.

Table S14: Estimated Spare Capacity for the Services Sector

Survey conducted during

Reference quarter

Response rate for the question on Spare Capacity
(per cent)

Spare Capacity
(per cent)

Q2:2023-24

Q1:2023-24

84.3

12.3

Q3:2023-24

Q2:2023-24

74.0

11.8

Q4:2023-24

Q3:2023-24

74.8

11.7

Q1:2024-25

Q4:2023-24

78.8

11.3

Q2:2024-25

Q1:2024-25

71.5

11.2

Q3:2024-25

Q2:2024-25

79.9

10.6

Q4:2024-25

Q3:2024-25

83.7

10.9

Q1:2025-26

Q4:2024-25

65.7

11.2

Q2:2025-26

Q1:2025-26

80.0

10.7

Q3:2025-26

Q2:2025-26

77.4

10.1

Infrastructure Sector

Table I1: Assessment and Expectation for Overall Business Situation

(Percentage responses)@

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Better

No Change

Worse

Net response^#

Better

No Change

Worse

Net response

Q3:24-25

40.2

47.2

12.6

27.6

70.3

26.8

2.9

67.4

Q4:24-25

44.4

49.0

6.5

37.9

70.9

25.2

3.9

66.9

Q1:25-26

41.3

49.6

9.1

32.2

72.2

24.5

3.3

68.9

Q2:25-26

44.0

47.3

8.8

35.2

69.2

28.2

2.6

66.7

Q3:25-26

41.3

44.7

14.0

27.3

71.1

25.6

3.3

67.8

Q4:25-26

70.5

28.9

0.7

69.8

Table I2: Assessment and Expectation for Turnover

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

44.1

42.5

13.4

30.7

73.2

24.6

2.2

71.0

Q4:24-25

45.5

46.1

8.4

37.0

72.7

24.2

3.1

69.5

Q1:25-26

46.2

42.0

11.8

34.5

75.2

20.9

3.9

71.2

Q2:25-26

46.7

41.3

12.0

34.8

69.2

26.5

4.3

65.0

Q3:25-26

43.0

42.4

14.6

28.5

75.6

18.9

5.6

70.0

Q4:25-26

72.0

26.0

2.0

70.0

‘Increase’ in Turnover is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I3: Assessment and Expectation for Full-time Employees

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

30.7

60.6

8.7

22.0

41.5

56.3

2.2

39.3

Q4:24-25

29.9

63.6

6.5

23.4

48.4

3.1

45.3

Q1:25-26

22.7

70.6

6.7

16.0

61.2

37.5

1.3

59.9

Q2:25-26

28.4

61.4

10.2

18.2

56.5

41.7

1.7

54.8

Q3:25-26

33.3

57.3

9.3

24.0

49.4

46.0

4.6

44.8

Q4:25-26

59.1

40.9

0.0

59.1

‘Increase’ in Full-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I4: Assessment and Expectation for Part-time Employees

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

30.3

61.6

8.1

22.2

54.3

40.2

5.4

48.9

Q4:24-25

31.5

65.4

3.1

28.5

62.0

34.0

4.0

58.0

Q1:25-26

19.1

75.5

5.3

13.8

62.8

34.1

3.1

59.7

Q2:25-26

23.7

69.7

6.6

17.1

66.3

31.5

2.2

64.1

Q3:25-26

27.5

63.4

9.2

18.3

50.7

44.0

5.3

45.3

Q4:25-26

63.5

34.9

1.6

61.9

‘Increase’ in Part-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I5: Assessment and Expectation for Availability of Finance

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Improve

No Change

Worsen

Net response

Improve

No Change

Worsen

Net response

Q3:24-25

34.1

57.9

7.9

26.2

55.1

44.1

0.7

54.4

Q4:24-25

34.0

59.5

6.5

27.5

60.8

37.6

1.6

59.2

Q1:25-26

22.7

68.1

9.2

13.4

71.8

26.2

2.0

69.8

Q2:25-26

41.3

51.1

7.6

33.7

63.5

34.8

1.7

61.7

Q3:25-26

36.7

52.0

11.3

25.3

65.9

30.8

3.3

62.6

Q4:25-26

62.4

36.9

0.7

61.7

‘Improve’ in Availability of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I6: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Finance

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

37.3

52.4

10.3

-27.0

63.5

33.3

3.2

-60.3

Q4:24-25

40.1

49.3

10.5

-29.6

60.7

36.9

2.5

-58.2

Q1:25-26

25.0

65.8

9.2

-15.8

68.2

26.4

5.4

-62.8

Q2:25-26

33.8

57.5

8.8

-25.0

60.5

35.1

4.4

-56.1

Q3:25-26

39.4

49.3

11.3

-28.2

57.7

32.1

10.3

-47.4

Q4:25-26

60.3

34.8

5.0

-55.3

‘Decrease’ in Cost of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I7: Assessment and Expectation for Salary/Wages

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

34.9

61.1

4.0

-31.0

43.1

56.9

0.0

-43.1

Q4:24-25

35.9

61.4

2.6

-33.3

47.6

52.4

0.0

-47.6

Q1:25-26

30.0

65.0

5.0

-25.0

66.7

32.7

0.7

-66.0

Q2:25-26

28.3

69.6

2.2

-26.1

63.5

34.8

1.7

-61.7

Q3:25-26

32.0

63.3

4.7

-27.3

48.4

49.5

2.2

-46.2

Q4:25-26

58.4

41.6

0.0

-58.4

‘Decrease’ in Salary/Wages is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I8: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Inputs

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

48.0

45.6

6.4

-41.6

70.8

29.2

0.0

-70.8

Q4:24-25

52.3

43.0

4.6

-47.7

70.4

29.6

0.0

-70.4

Q1:25-26

39.8

53.1

7.1

-32.7

74.3

22.4

3.3

-71.1

Q2:25-26

52.7

42.9

4.4

-48.4

74.3

22.9

2.8

-71.6

Q3:25-26

55.6

38.2

6.3

-49.3

60.0

37.8

2.2

-57.8

Q4:25-26

70.9

27.0

2.1

-68.8

‘Decrease’ in Cost of Inputs is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I9: Assessment and Expectation for Selling Price

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

27.0

63.1

9.9

17.1

52.7

44.5

2.7

50.0

Q4:24-25

30.1

65.4

4.5

25.6

56.4

43.6

0.0

56.4

Q1:25-26

22.9

67.6

9.5

13.3

62.9

36.4

0.8

62.1

Q2:25-26

30.0

65.0

5.0

25.0

63.4

33.7

3.0

60.4

Q3:25-26

31.7

58.7

9.5

22.2

50.0

43.6

6.4

43.6

Q4:25-26

63.2

34.4

2.4

60.8

‘Increase’ in Selling Price is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I10: Assessment and Expectation for Profit Margin

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

28.0

55.2

16.8

11.2

45.7

49.3

5.1

40.6

Q4:24-25

27.5

61.4

11.1

16.3

55.2

40.0

4.8

50.4

Q1:25-26

23.3

60.3

16.4

6.9

61.8

34.2

3.9

57.9

Q2:25-26

35.6

52.2

12.2

23.3

55.7

40.0

4.3

51.3

Q3:25-26

30.9

51.7

17.4

13.4

53.9

39.3

6.7

47.2

Q4:25-26

67.8

27.5

4.7

63.1

‘Increase’ in Profit Margin is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I11: Assessment and Expectation for Inventories

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

35.6

56.8

7.6

28.0

59.1

38.2

2.7

56.4

Q4:24-25

37.2

52.4

10.3

26.9

62.4

35.9

1.7

60.7

Q1:25-26

24.8

67.3

8.0

16.8

74.1

22.4

3.5

70.6

Q2:25-26

39.7

51.3

9.0

30.8

62.7

32.7

4.5

58.2

Q3:25-26

33.1

55.4

11.5

21.6

59.7

35.1

5.2

54.5

Q4:25-26

66.9

29.4

3.7

63.2

‘Increase’ in Inventories is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I12: Assessment and Expectation for Technical/Service Capacity

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

32.9

62.0

5.1

27.8

72.5

27.5

0.0

72.5

Q4:24-25

34.8

62.6

2.6

32.2

68.8

30.0

1.3

67.5

Q1:25-26

20.7

73.2

6.1

14.6

72.6

27.4

0.0

72.6

Q2:25-26

29.4

66.2

4.4

25.0

72.2

26.6

1.3

70.9

Q3:25-26

29.6

62.6

7.8

21.7

59.1

39.4

1.5

57.6

Q4:25-26

70.3

28.8

0.9

69.4

‘Increase’ in Technical/Service Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

Table I13: Assessment and Expectation for Physical Investment

(Percentage responses)

Quarter

Assessment

Expectation

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Increase

No Change

Decrease

Net response

Q3:24-25

32.6

61.6

5.8

26.7

75.3

24.7

0.0

75.3

Q4:24-25

34.1

63.4

2.4

31.7

71.1

28.9

0.0

71.1

Q1:25-26

25.0

70.2

4.8

20.2

73.8

26.2

0.0

73.8

Q2:25-26

33.8

63.2

2.9

30.9

77.8

22.2

0.0

77.8

Q3:25-26

32.2

60.9

7.0

25.2

68.2

30.3

1.5

66.7

Q4:25-26

72.6

27.4

0.0

72.6

‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

¹ The survey results reflect the respondents’ views, which are not necessarily shared by the Reserve Bank.

² Results of the previous survey round were released on the Bank’s website on October 01, 2025.

³ Net Response (NR) is the difference between the percentage of respondents reporting optimism and those reporting pessimism. It ranges between -100 to 100. Positive value indicates expansion/optimism and negative value indicates contraction/pessimism. In other words, NR = (I – D); where, I is the percentage response of ‘Increase/optimism’, 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 turnover is optimism whereas decrease in cost of inputs is optimism.