Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q1:2025-26

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Published on August 06, 2025

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Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q1:2025-26

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 45th round of its quarterly Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey (SIOS) conducted during Q1:2025-26. This forward-looking survey 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 survey , 693 companies provided their assessment for Q1:2025-26 and expectations for Q2:2025-26 as well as outlook on key parameters for the subsequent two quarters.

Highlights:

A. Services Sector

Assessment for Q1:2025-26

Services sector enterprises assessed improvement in the overall business situation, employment conditions and their turnover during Q1:2025-26 (Chart 1 and Table A).
Responding firms reported easing of pressures from input and finance costs, while pressures stemming from salary outgo increased.
Services firms’ assessment on profit margin improved, supported by improvement in turnover and selling prices.

Expectations for Q2:2025-26

Services firms maintained their positive outlook on demand conditions in Q2:2025-26, though their level of optimism recorded some moderation vis-à-vis the previous quarter (Chart 1 and Table A).
Pressures from wage bill, input cost and finance cost are likely to ease moderately.
Firms expressed lower optimism regarding selling prices and profit margins.

Expectations for Q3:2025-26 and Q4:2025-26

Services sector firms remain optimistic on overall business situation, turnover and employment till Q4:2025-26 (Table C).
Input cost pressures are likely to persist in H2:2025-26.
Responding services firms reported that with their existing resources they could provide 11.2 per cent additional services during Q4:2024-25 (Table S14).

B. Infrastructure Sector

Assessment for Q1:2025-26

Infrastructure companies remained positive on overall business situation, employment as well as their turnover during Q1:2025-26 (Chart 2 and Table B).
Respondents assessed easing of cost pressures; while sentiments on selling price growth and profit margin moderated.

Expectations for Q2:2025-26

Infrastructure firms remain highly optimistic on overall business situation and turnover (Chart 2 and Table B).
Cost pressures are likely to remain high, leading to tempered expectations for increase in selling prices and profit margins.

Expectations for Q3:2025-26 and Q4:2025-26

Infrastructure firms expect sequential improvement in turnover and overall business situation during H2:2025-26 (Table D).
Input cost pressures are likely to persist in near term; with concomitant rise in selling prices.

Summary of Net Responses³ on Survey Parameters

Table A: Services Sector
(per cent)
Parameters	Assessment period		Expectations period
Parameters	Q4:2024-25*	Q1:2025-26	Q1:2025-26*	Q2:2025-26
Overall Business Situation	34.9	35.5	69.6	58.7
Turnover	34.3	35.4	72.3	60.3
Full-time Employees	20.4	21.5	53.9	40.4
Part-time Employees	15.8	16.1	56.5	39.8
Availability of Finance	19.7	23.1	57.0	44.4
Cost of Finance	-26.8	-23.9	-59.5	-39.7
Salary & Wages	-25.5	-38.8	-61.5	-42.7
Cost of Inputs	-36.7	-35.9	-69.2	-53.2
Selling Price	14.8	15.4	55.8	37.2
Profit Margin	7.6	8.1	49.3	34.6
Inventories	18.6	14.3	54.1	39.0
Technical/Service Capacity	17.1	19.7	62.7	45.7
Physical Investment	14.8	17.5	57.6	42.3

*: Based on the previous round’s response.

Table B: Infrastructure Sector
(per cent)
Parameters	Assessment period		Expectations period
Parameters	Q4:2024-25*	Q1:2025-26	Q1:2025-26*	Q2:2025-26
Overall Business Situation	37.9	32.2	68.9	66.7
Turnover	37.0	34.5	71.2	65.0
Full-time Employees	23.4	16.0	59.9	54.8
Part-time Employees	28.5	13.8	59.7	64.1
Availability of Finance	27.5	13.4	69.8	61.7
Cost of Finance	-29.6	-15.8	-62.8	-56.1
Salary & Wages	-33.3	-25.0	-66.0	-61.7
Cost of Inputs	-47.7	-32.7	-71.1	-71.6
Selling Price	25.6	13.3	62.1	60.4
Profit Margin	16.3	6.9	57.9	51.3
Inventories	26.9	16.8	70.6	58.2
Technical/Service Capacity	32.2	14.6	72.6	70.9
Physical Investment	31.7	20.2	73.8	77.8

*: 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 44	Round 45
Q1:2025-26	Q2:2025-26	Q3:2025-26	Q4:2025-26
Overall Business Situation	69.6	58.7	61.7	61.0
Turnover	72.3	60.3	63.0	63.0
Full-time Employees	53.9	40.4	41.3	40.3
Part-time Employees	56.5	39.8	40.7	39.8
Cost of Inputs	-69.2	-53.2	-51.4	-49.5
Selling Price	55.8	37.2	35.1	36.3

Table D: Infrastructure Sector
Parameter	Round 44	Round 45
Q1:2025-26	Q2:2025-26	Q3:2025-26	Q4:2025-26
Overall Business Situation	68.9	66.7	70.9	71.6
Turnover	71.2	65.0	69.5	74.4
Full-time Employees	59.9	54.8	56.9	56.0
Part-time Employees	59.7	64.1	64.5	64.5
Cost of Inputs	-71.1	-71.6	-67.6	-67.6
Selling Price	62.1	60.4	60.0	61.0

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
Q1:24-25	43.0	48.1	8.9	34.1	68.5	28.4	3.1	65.3
Q2:24-25	41.9	46.4	11.7	30.2	71.5	26.5	2.0	69.4
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					60.9	36.9	2.2	58.7
‘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
Q1:24-25	45.2	43.1	11.7	33.5	70.5	23.6	5.9	64.6
Q2:24-25	43.6	43.5	12.9	30.7	71.9	24.8	3.3	68.7
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					64.0	32.4	3.7	60.3
‘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
Q1:24-25	34.8	58.2	7.0	27.8	48.4	49.5	2.1	46.3
Q2:24-25	29.0	62.0	9.0	20.1	52.2	46.0	1.7	50.5
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					41.9	56.7	1.5	40.4
‘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
Q1:24-25	28.9	65.0	6.1	22.7	50.8	46.7	2.5	48.3
Q2:24-25	22.2	69.6	8.3	13.9	55.4	42.1	2.5	52.9
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					41.9	56.1	2.1	39.8
‘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
Q1:24-25	37.9	56.2	5.9	32.0	56.4	42.5	1.1	55.3
Q2:24-25	28.5	62.8	8.7	19.8	58.8	40.0	1.2	57.6
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					46.1	52.2	1.7	44.4
‘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
Q1:24-25	40.0	55.1	4.9	-35.1	51.0	43.5	5.5	-45.5
Q2:24-25	36.6	59.0	4.3	-32.3	59.4	38.0	2.6	-56.9
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					44.1	51.4	4.4	-39.7
‘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
Q1:24-25	45.3	52.0	2.7	-42.6	46.7	53.3	0.0	-46.7
Q2:24-25	29.9	66.0	4.1	-25.8	54.5	44.9	0.7	-53.8
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					43.6	55.5	0.9	-42.7
‘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
Q1:24-25	47.5	49.6	2.9	-44.7	57.1	42.5	0.4	-56.7
Q2:24-25	44.4	51.8	3.8	-40.6	66.5	32.9	0.6	-65.9
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					54.3	44.7	1.0	-53.2
‘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
Q1:24-25	26.9	67.9	5.2	21.7	52.4	46.0	1.6	50.8
Q2:24-25	20.5	71.1	8.4	12.1	55.5	43.2	1.4	54.1
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					39.4	58.4	2.2	37.2
‘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
Q1:24-25	26.5	57.5	16.0	10.5	50.6	45.1	4.2	46.4
Q2:24-25	21.0	62.1	16.8	4.2	49.6	46.3	4.2	45.4
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					39.2	56.1	4.6	34.6
‘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
Q1:24-25	31.2	62.0	6.9	24.3	50.9	45.9	3.2	47.8
Q2:24-25	24.5	69.4	6.1	18.4	54.3	43.4	2.3	52.0
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					41.9	55.3	2.9	39.0
‘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
Q1:24-25	29.4	67.4	3.2	26.2	54.7	45.3	0.0	54.7
Q2:24-25	23.0	72.5	4.5	18.5	57.2	42.5	0.2	57.0
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					46.0	53.7	0.3	45.7
‘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
Q1:24-25	27.4	69.3	3.2	24.2	53.8	45.7	0.5	53.2
Q2:24-25	21.6	72.9	5.5	16.1	55.7	44.1	0.3	55.4
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					43.1	56.0	0.9	42.3
‘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)
Q4:2022-23	Q3:2022-23	63.0	13.8
Q1:2023-24	Q4:2022-23	79.8	13.6
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

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
Q1:24-25	37.7	51.3	11.0	26.6	70.3	25.4	4.2	66.1
Q2:24-25	38.4	44.9	16.7	21.7	76.5	21.6	2.0	74.5
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					69.2	28.2	2.6	66.7
‘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 I2: Assessment and Expectation for Turnover (Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q1:24-25	37.7	51.3	11.0	26.6	68.4	24.8	6.8	61.5
Q2:24-25	41.3	42.8	15.9	25.4	73.2	23.5	3.3	69.9
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					69.2	26.5	4.3	65.0
‘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
Q1:24-25	31.2	59.1	9.7	21.4	47.5	51.7	0.8	46.6
Q2:24-25	28.3	61.6	10.1	18.1	64.7	33.3	2.0	62.7
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	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					56.5	41.7	1.7	54.8
‘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
Q1:24-25	32.8	59.9	7.3	25.5	55.8	41.9	2.3	53.5
Q2:24-25	21.5	66.7	11.8	9.7	63.7	33.3	3.0	60.7
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					66.3	31.5	2.2	64.1
‘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
Q1:24-25	35.1	59.1	5.8	29.2	58.6	40.5	0.9	57.8
Q2:24-25	31.4	55.5	13.1	18.2	68.0	32.0	0.0	68.0
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					63.5	34.8	1.7	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
Q1:24-25	36.4	56.3	7.3	-29.1	60.4	38.7	0.9	-59.4
Q2:24-25	38.3	50.0	11.7	-26.6	65.1	32.2	2.7	-62.4
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					60.5	35.1	4.4	-56.1
‘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
Q1:24-25	38.3	57.8	3.9	-34.4	55.2	44.8	0.0	-55.2
Q2:24-25	31.9	63.0	5.1	-26.8	70.6	29.4	0.0	-70.6
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					63.5	34.8	1.7	-61.7
‘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
Q1:24-25	42.2	51.7	6.1	-36.1	63.4	36.6	0.0	-63.4
Q2:24-25	49.2	42.3	8.5	-40.8	75.9	23.4	0.7	-75.2
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					74.3	22.9	2.8	-71.6
‘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
Q1:24-25	30.8	60.0	9.2	21.5	60.7	33.7	5.6	55.1
Q2:24-25	24.5	61.8	13.6	10.9	69.8	27.1	3.1	66.7
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					63.4	33.7	3.0	60.4
‘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
Q1:24-25	28.6	59.7	11.7	16.9	54.7	38.5	6.8	47.9
Q2:24-25	26.8	52.2	21.0	5.8	65.1	31.6	3.3	61.8
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					55.7	40.0	4.3	51.3
‘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
Q1:24-25	34.8	59.4	5.8	29.0	58.0	39.0	3.0	55.0
Q2:24-25	30.4	59.8	9.8	20.5	71.5	27.0	1.5	70.1
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					62.7	32.7	4.5	58.2
‘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
Q1:24-25	36.2	59.5	4.3	31.9	66.2	32.4	1.4	64.9
Q2:24-25	30.9	57.4	11.8	19.1	79.1	20.9	0.0	79.1
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					72.2	26.6	1.3	70.9
‘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
Q1:24-25	33.1	61.2	5.8	27.3	64.0	36.0	0.0	64.0
Q2:24-25	36.5	52.7	10.8	25.7	75.8	24.2	0.0	75.8
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					77.8	22.2	0.0	77.8
‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here.

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

Results of the previous survey round were released on the Bank’s website on April 09, 2025.

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.