Bengaluru, May 2 Reuters Factory activity in India picked up last month, bolstered by a solid increase in demand as pandemic restrictions were eased, but rising energy prices pushed input costs to a fivemonth high, a private survey showed.

International demand also jumped robustly to a 9month high after contracting in March and domestic demand was above average.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers39; Index compiled by SP Global, improved to 54.7 in April from 54.0 in March.

It beat the Reuters poll expectation for 53.8 and was above the 50mark, which separates growth from contraction, for a tenth consecutive month.

Factories continued to scale up production at an abovetrend pace, with the ongoing increases in sales and input purchasing suggesting that growth will be sustained in the nearterm, noted Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at SP Global.

That optimism was underpinned by an easing of COVID19 restrictions, but a recent spike in coronavirus cases and an electricity shortage could impair industrial activity in coming months.

Indeed, the level of business expectations remained subdued compared to past trends. While some firms predicted better growth in the next 12 months, others indicated the outlook was difficult to predict.

Firms hired more workers in April but the rise was marginal from March.

Input costs rose at their fastest pace since November, aggravated by higher transportation costs and commodity prices, owing to disruptions due to…