India Services Output Index Shows Broad-Based April Growth

India's formal services economy opened the new fiscal year with a strong showing. Fourteen of the 19 sectors tracked under the government's newly launched Index of Service Production (ISP) posted double-digit year-on-year growth in April.

Accommodation and food services led the charge, expanding 37.2%. Retail trade followed at 30.8%, administrative and support services at 28.7%, and real estate at 27.7%. Telecommunications grew 22.8%, repair services 19.2%, road transport 18.5%, and warehousing and transport support services 18.2%.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the ISP on Tuesday with a base year of 2024-25. The monthly index covers 19 services sectors that together account for more than half of India's economic output. MoSPI secretary Saurabh Garg said India joined a small group of countries – the United Kingdom, the European Union and South Korea – that produce a similar index. Garg stressed that the ISP measures output, not value added.

Chief economic adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran described the introduction of a monthly services output indicator as a real achievement.

Nageswaran cautioned against reading too much into a single month's data. The series should be viewed over a longer period, he said. Despite that caveat, the April reading suggests India's formal services sector entered FY26 on a solid footing.