Publications

PDF - Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q1:2025-26 ()
Date : Aug 06, 2025
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 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, 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.

Chart 1: Turnover of Services Companies - Net Response

  • 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.

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
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
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.

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 09, 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.