MUMBAI, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- India's manufacturing activity in November rose to 10-month high at 57.6 as sales accelerated and products saw the fastest upturn in nine months.

"Increasing from 55.9 in October to 57.6 in November, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) signalled the strongest improvement in the health of the sector for ten months," said a statement by IHS Markit that compiles the PMI index.

Indian companies scaled up their raw-material purchases, which led to the second-quickest accumulation in stocks of purchases since data collection started nearly 17 years ago, the statement said.

Inflation, however, remained high due to increased transportation cost and demand-supply mismatch.

"The fact that firms purchased additional inputs at a stronger rate amid efforts to restock, combined with recurring declines in inventories of finished goods and tentative signs of a pick-up in hiring activity, indicate that production volumes will likely expand further in the near-term," said Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at IHS Markit.

If raw material scarcity and shipping issues continue to feed through to purchasing prices, substantial increases in output charges could be seen and demand resilience would be tested, De Lima cautioned. Enditem

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