NEW DELHI: The pace of growth in India ’s manufacturing sector improved to a four-month high in January, climbing into expansion territory after the contraction seen at the end of last year.The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index ( PMI ) posted a reading of 51.1 in January, compared with 49.1 in December, data released on Monday showed. A reading above 50 denotes expansion.Data showed that levels of production and total new business registered mild increases following contractions in the prior survey month. The consumer goods sub-sector remained the principal growth engine at the start of the year, seeing substantial expansions of both output and new orders. In contrast, producers of investment goods saw a fall in output and new orders, while production volumes stagnated in the intermediate goods category.Moreover, the levels of incoming new export business has now risen in each of the past 28 months.Although there was some job creation in January, the survey noted that this increase was insufficient to reduce the pressure on manufacturers’ capacity.“The opening month of 2016 saw a rebound in new business – from both domestic and external clients – leading manufacturers in India to scale up output following a short-lived downturn recorded in December, " said Pollyanna De Lima, economist at Markit, the agency that compiles the index. “Whereas the trends in the growth rates are relatively weak in comparison with the long-run series averages, January’s PMI data paints a brighter picture of the Indian economy .”In its outlook, the survey indicated an unchanged repo rate at 6.75% by the Reserve Bank of India in its policy review on Tuesday, even though the central bank is likely to continue its monetary policy loosening cycle in 2016.