New Delhi, June 12 (ANI): Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said India's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growth for the month of April was 'disappointing'.

IIP, the key measure of industrial output, grew at 0.1 per cent in April 2012 from the same period in the past fiscal. This is against an expectation of 1.7 per cent, Mukherjee said at a conference of public sector banks here.

I am disappointed. Things have not picked up and negative sentiments are still there. We need to take steps to give positive signals, he added.

He further assured investors that the government is taking steps to improve the negative sentiment by ensuring faster project clearances and attracting new investment.

The government has taken steps to encourage investment in long-term infrastructure through the infrastructure debt funds and relaxation of external commercial borrowing norms, he added.

On the growing concern over bad loans, Mukherjee said banks are fully aware of the grave situation of non-performing assets and have already begun reducing their exposure to it.

I have asked banks not to choke the flow of credit to the sectors where uninterrupted flow is required, he added. (ANI)