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.

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.

Summary of Net Responses³ on Survey Parameters

Table A: Services Sector
(per cent)
Parameters	Assessment period		Expectations period
Parameters	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
Parameters	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
Parameter	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
Parameter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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
Quarter	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.

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