Publications

PDF - Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q1:2026-27 ()
Date : Aug 05, 2026
Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q1:2026-27

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 49th round of its quarterly Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey (SIOS) conducted during Q1:2026-27. 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, 1,007 companies provided their assessment for Q1:2026-27 and expectations for Q2:2026-27 as well as outlook on key parameters for the subsequent two quarters.

Highlights:

A. Services Sector

Assessment for Q1:2026-27

  • Service sector firms remained positive about their overall business situation, turnover and employment in Q1:2026-27, with moderation in sentiments compared to the previous quarter (Chart 1 and Table A).

  • Responding firms reported higher cost pressures arising from input costs and salary outgo.

  • Services firms assessed broadly stable selling price growth in Q1:2026-27, leading to pressure on profit margins.

Expectations for Q2:2026-27

  • Services firms remain optimistic about demand conditions in Q2:2026-27, with some corrections when compared with the previous quarter (Chart 1 and Table A).

  • Firms expect higher pressures from input costs in Q2:2026-27, while wage cost pressures are expected to ease.

Expectations for Q3:2026-27 and Q4:2026-27

  • Respondents’ outlook remains optimistic for the second half of 2026-27 (Table C).

  • Firms expect input cost pressures to persist during H2:2026-27.
Chart 1
  • Responding services firms reported that with their existing resources they could have delivered 8.8 per cent additional services during Q4:2025-26 (Table S14).

B. Infrastructure Sector

Assessment for Q1:2026-27

  • Infrastructure firms assessed positive demand conditions in Q1:2026-27, (Chart 2 and Table B).

  • Enterprises reported higher cost pressures during Q1:2026-27.

Expectations for Q2:2026-27

  • Outlook on overall business situation, turnover and employment conditions is positive for Q2:2026-27; a tad lower when compared with the previous survey round (Table B).

  • Pressures from input and salary costs are likely to persist during Q2:2026-27.

Expectations for Q3:2026-27 and Q4:2026-27

  • Respondents expressed optimism on demand and employment conditions for the second half of 2026-27 (Table D).

  • Input cost pressures are likely to persist in near term.

Chart 2

Summary of Net Responses3 on Survey Parameters

Table A: Services Sector
(per cent)
Parameters Assessment period Expectations period
Q4:2025-26* Q1:2026-27 Q1:2026-27* Q2:2026-27
Overall Business Situation 36.1 15.6 64.2 60.1
Turnover 38.1 16.4 66.7 62.1
Full-time Employees 24.0 12.9 50.0 50.1
Part-time Employees 12.8 6.8 41.6 44.9
Availability of Finance 23.9 13.1 48.3 48.3
Cost of Finance -22.5 -17.8 -41.8 -49.6
Salary & Wages -29.2 -31.1 -62.8 -56.2
Cost of Inputs -35.5 -40.9 -58.9 -62.9
Selling Price 12.5 12.5 42.8 48.5
Profit Margin 9.0 -7.5 39.3 38.7
Inventories 17.5 8.5 39.5 45.4
Technical/Service Capacity 20.6 13.1 50.2 55.0
Physical Investment 15.6 11.9 47.9 53.8
*: Based on the previous round’s response.

Table B: Infrastructure Sector
(per cent)
Parameters Assessment period Expectations period
Q4:2025-26* Q1:2026-27 Q1:2026-27* Q2:2026-27
Overall Business Situation 29.5 15.7 71.9 54.5
Turnover 29.3 18.4 68.9 57.6
Full-time Employees 18.0 14.6 57.0 46.9
Part-time Employees 16.8 14.9 59.4 49.4
Availability of Finance 20.5 23.8 59.5 49.5
Cost of Finance -13.6 -21.1 -49.2 -38.3
Salary & Wages -21.3 -36.7 -64.5 -59.4
Cost of Inputs -37.8 -51.5 -70.3 -69.1
Selling Price 16.4 28.9 57.8 53.5
Profit Margin 5.8 11.3 50.8 51.0
Inventories 11.0 16.8 57.6 41.9
Technical/Service Capacity 18.0 25.7 62.2 64.3
Physical Investment 26.7 25.3 71.7 67.6
*: 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 48 Round 49
Q1:2026-27 Q2:2026-27 Q3:2026-27 Q4:2026-27
Overall Business Situation 64.2 60.1 62.5 63.6
Turnover 66.7 62.1 66.2 66.0
Full-time Employees 50.0 50.1 52.3 52.5
Part-time Employees 41.6 44.9 48.5 48.5
Cost of Inputs -58.9 -62.9 -60.7 -59.7
Selling Price 42.8 48.5 49.7 51.9

Table D: Infrastructure Sector
Parameter Round 48 Round 49
Q1:2026-27 Q2:2026-27 Q3:2026-27 Q4:2026-27
Overall Business Situation 71.9 54.5 54.6 58.8
Turnover 68.9 57.6 55.6 58.2
Full-time Employees 57.0 46.9 50.0 48.5
Part-time Employees 59.4 49.4 55.4 54.2
Cost of Inputs -70.3 -69.1 -56.3 -56.3
Selling Price 57.8 53.5 50.0 51.2

Note: Please see the excel file for time series data

Services 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
Q1:25-26 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 45.0 46.2 8.8 36.1 71.9 26.5 1.7 70.2
Q1:26-27 34.6 46.4 19.0 15.6 67.5 29.2 3.3 64.2
Q2:26-27         63.5 33.1 3.4 60.1
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 49.1 39.9 11.0 38.1 71.9 25.6 2.5 69.4
Q1:26-27 37.3 41.7 21.0 16.4 71.3 24.0 4.7 66.7
Q2:26-27         66.5 29.2 4.3 62.1
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 32.7 58.6 8.7 24.0 47.4 51.2 1.3 46.1
Q1:26-27 28.0 57.0 15.1 12.9 51.8 46.5 1.8 50.0
Q2:26-27         52.6 44.9 2.5 50.1
‘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
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 20.3 72.2 7.5 12.8 47.7 50.2 2.0 45.7
Q1:26-27 19.9 67.0 13.1 6.8 44.5 52.6 2.9 41.6
Q2:26-27         48.2 48.5 3.3 44.9
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 30.7 62.4 6.9 23.9 54.3 44.3 1.5 52.8
Q1:26-27 25.5 62.0 12.5 13.1 50.2 48.0 1.8 48.3
Q2:26-27         50.3 47.7 2.0 48.3
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 31.0 60.5 8.5 -22.5 48.9 47.7 3.3 -45.6
Q1:26-27 28.5 60.8 10.7 -17.8 46.0 49.9 4.1 -41.8
Q2:26-27         51.5 46.7 1.8 -49.6
‘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
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 33.9 61.5 4.6 -29.2 51.9 47.0 1.1 -50.8
Q1:26-27 39.4 52.4 8.3 -31.1 64.0 34.9 1.2 -62.8
Q2:26-27         57.0 42.2 0.8 -56.2
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 40.2 55.1 4.7 -35.5 56.6 42.4 1.1 -55.5
Q1:26-27 48.9 43.1 8.0 -40.9 59.7 39.6 0.8 -58.9
Q2:26-27         63.8 35.2 1.0 -62.9
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 48.6 2.8 45.8
Q4:25-26 19.9 72.8 7.3 12.5 49.0 49.0 2.0 47.1
Q1:26-27 24.1 64.2 11.7 12.5 44.4 54.0 1.6 42.8
Q2:26-27         50.2 48.1 1.7 48.5
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 23.7 61.6 14.7 9.0 49.4 46.3 4.3 45.1
Q1:26-27 19.9 52.7 27.4 -7.5 44.9 49.5 5.6 39.3
Q2:26-27         46.3 46.1 7.6 38.7
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 25.0 67.5 7.5 17.5 49.9 47.5 2.6 47.3
Q1:26-27 20.7 67.1 12.2 8.5 42.4 54.6 2.9 39.5
Q2:26-27         48.1 49.3 2.6 45.4
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 25.6 69.4 5.0 20.6 56.3 43.4 0.3 56.0
Q1:26-27 23.1 66.9 10.0 13.1 50.6 49.0 0.4 50.2
Q2:26-27         56.0 42.9 1.0 55.0
‘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
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 20.3 75.0 4.7 15.6 54.9 44.6 0.5 54.4
Q1:26-27 22.3 67.4 10.4 11.9 47.9 52.1 0.0 47.9
Q2:26-27         55.0 43.8 1.2 53.8
‘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)
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
Q4:2025-26 Q3:2025-26 79.6 9.0
Q1:2026-27 Q4:2025-26 78.2 8.8

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
Q1:25-26 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 39.3 50.8 9.8 29.5 70.5 28.9 0.7 69.8
Q1:26-27 34.3 47.1 18.6 15.7 74.4 23.1 2.5 71.9
Q2:26-27         59.6 35.4 5.1 54.5
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 39.8 49.6 10.6 29.3 72.0 26.0 2.0 70.0
Q1:26-27 35.9 46.6 17.5 18.4 73.8 21.3 4.9 68.9
Q2:26-27         61.6 34.3 4.0 57.6
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 28.7 60.7 10.7 18.0 59.1 40.9 0.0 59.1
Q1:26-27 26.2 62.1 11.7 14.6 58.7 39.7 1.7 57.0
Q2:26-27         51.0 44.9 4.1 46.9
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 27.1 62.6 10.3 16.8 63.5 34.9 1.6 61.9
Q1:26-27 21.8 71.3 6.9 14.9 60.4 38.7 0.9 59.4
Q2:26-27         50.6 48.2 1.2 49.4
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 27.9 64.8 7.4 20.5 62.4 36.9 0.7 61.7
Q1:26-27 30.7 62.4 6.9 23.8 61.2 37.2 1.7 59.5
Q2:26-27         51.5 46.5 2.0 49.5
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 26.3 61.0 12.7 -13.6 60.3 34.8 5.0 -55.3
Q1:26-27 29.5 62.1 8.4 -21.1 56.8 35.6 7.6 -49.2
Q2:26-27         43.6 51.1 5.3 -38.3
‘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
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 27.9 65.6 6.6 -21.3 58.4 41.6 0.0 -58.4
Q1:26-27 42.9 51.0 6.1 -36.7 64.5 35.5 0.0 -64.5
Q2:26-27         61.5 36.5 2.1 -59.4
‘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
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 45.4 47.1 7.6 -37.8 70.9 27.0 2.1 -68.8
Q1:26-27 56.4 38.6 5.0 -51.5 72.9 24.6 2.5 -70.3
Q2:26-27         71.1 26.8 2.1 -69.1
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 25.5 65.5 9.1 16.4 63.2 34.4 2.4 60.8
Q1:26-27 35.6 57.8 6.7 28.9 59.6 38.5 1.8 57.8
Q2:26-27         55.8 41.9 2.3 53.5
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 23.3 59.2 17.5 5.8 67.8 27.5 4.7 63.1
Q1:26-27 30.9 49.5 19.6 11.3 57.5 35.8 6.7 50.8
Q2:26-27         57.3 36.5 6.3 51.0
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 26.3 58.5 15.3 11.0 66.9 29.4 3.7 63.2
Q1:26-27 28.4 60.0 11.6 16.8 61.9 33.9 4.2 57.6
Q2:26-27         47.3 47.3 5.4 41.9
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 25.0 68.0 7.0 18.0 70.3 28.8 0.9 69.4
Q1:26-27 31.1 63.5 5.4 25.7 62.2 37.8 0.0 62.2
Q2:26-27         64.3 35.7 0.0 64.3
‘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
Q1:25-26 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 33.7 59.4 6.9 26.7 72.6 27.4 0.0 72.6
Q1:26-27 30.7 64.0 5.3 25.3 71.7 28.3 0.0 71.7
Q2:26-27         67.6 32.4 0.0 67.6
‘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 April 08, 2026.

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.