The Reserve Bank of India has released the results of its 59th round of the quarterly Order Books, Inventories and Capacity Utilisation Survey (OBICUS) conducted during Q3:2022-23 covering 800 manufacturing companies. The survey provides a snapshot of demand conditions in India’s manufacturing sector during July-September 2022.
As per the SUrvey findings, the aggregate level capacity utilisation (CU) for the manufacturing sector improved to 74.0 per cent in Q2:2022-23 from 72.4 percent in the previous quarter. The seasonally adjusted CU for Q2:2022-23 also increased by 20 basis points (bps) to 74.5 percent from its level in the previous quarter.
New orders received by manufacturing companies during Q2:2022-23 were close to their level in the previous quarters but they were substantially higher than that in the corresponding quarter a year ago.
Both raw material inventory (RMI) to sales and finished goods inventory (FGI) to sales ratios declined in Q2:2022-23 as compared to the previous quarter, which was commensurate with higher sales growth and similar level of new orders on sequential basis.
