By IANS,
New Delhi : Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday said that he was disappointed with the industrial output data but asserted that the government was committed to kickstarting the economy and boosting investor sentiment.
“I am disappointed … we shall have to take some steps which signals positivism. Some of the steps have already been taken,” Mukherjee said while addressing a meeting of public sector banks.
According to a government data released Tuesday, India’s industrial output grew by a meagre 0.1 percent in April as the slump in manufacturing and mining sectors continued, dampening hopes of an early revival of economic growth.
Mukherjee said that the government has taken steps to encourage investment in long-term infrastructure through debt funds and relaxation of external commercial borrowing norms.
He added that while fiscal management was of high priority, regular tariff revisions would also be given attention.
The meagre growth in IIP data comes in the backdrop of a fall of 3.5 percent in industrial production in March, the first such contraction since October 2011, when it shrank by 4.7 percent.
Factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had registered a growth of 4.1 percent in February year-on-year.
The average industrial output growth for 2011-12 fell to 2.8 percent as compared to 8.2 percent in the previous year, according to data released by the Central Statistical Organisation.