Assam, Mar 01 : The Budget Session of Assam Assembly for year 2008-09 will begin on Monday

After the declaration of the national budget for 2008-09, small and medium IT enterprises get disappointed, as there is not much scope to enhance growth prospects of the IT industry.

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) showed extreme distress as Finance Minister P. Chidambaram did not remark on extending the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme.

The STPI scheme that offers up tax exemptions for the IT industry expires on March 31, 2009.

New Delhi, Feb 29 : Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said that there is an investment boom in the economy and that the budget aimed at further fuelling the country's growth story.

Chidambaram told reporters here that the Finance Ministry has tried to live up to the expectations of the 'target' sectors like health, education, deprived, social security, women, children and farmers.

He also said that these measures are likely to spark off a new investment boom in the country.

New Delhi, Feb 29 :

New Delhi, Feb 29: Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday gave tax benefits to almost all section of society.

Chidambaram has restructured the tax slabs for income tax payment by raising the exemption limit from 110 thousand rupees to 150 thousand rupees for men, for women it has been raised from 145 thousand rupees to 180 thousand rupees and for senior citizens it has been raised from 195 thousand rupees to 225 thousand rupees.

New Delhi, Feb 29: To give a boost to the agricultural sector, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today announced a loan waiver for about forty million farmers while presenting his Budget proposals for fiscal 2008-09. This relief is expected to help the government deal with its current agrarian crisis.

Chidambaram announced waiver of 500 billion rupees worth of loans granted to small and marginal farmers and a settlement scheme of 100 billion rupees for other farmers.