Mumbai, Oct. 1 -- The HSBC PMI data for September highlighted continued growth across India's manufacturing industry, albeit with a mild loss of momentum. New orders, output and input buying all rose at the slowest rates since May, while job creation retreated to a one-year low.

Still, companies were strongly confident regarding the outlook for production, with changes in GST (goods and services tax) rates boosting optimism. The survey indicated quicker increases in input costs and selling prices. The latter in fact rose to the greatest extent since October 2013.

At 57.7 in September, down from 59.3 in August, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) pointed to the weakest improvement in the heal...