Budget 2008

New Delhi, Feb 29 (ANI): 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.

New Delhi, Feb 29 (IANS) Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Friday enhanced the budgetary allocation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) substantially.

New Delhi, Feb 29 (IANS) India will spend Rs.7.5 billion ($187.5 million) for carrying out research in oceanography and meteorological science, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Friday.

Raipur, Feb 29 (IANS) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh flayed the union budget presented Friday, saying there was no provision for a joint action-plan to deal with the Maoist problem, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had identified as the biggest internal security threat.

New Delhi, Feb 29 (ANI): Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram has announced a proposal of Rs.993 crore to the National Aids Control Programme.

New Delhi, Feb 29 (IANS) Income tax payers in India stand to gain at least Rs.4,000 per year with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram proposing to raise the exemption limit from Rs.110,000 to Rs.150,000 as he presented the 2008-09 budget here Friday.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday shared a 'rare honour' with only Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in presenting all the five budgets on behalf of a government and could not help patting himself.

The 'aam admi' (common man) on Friday gave his thumbs-up to the Union Budget 2008-09, in which, apparently with an eye on elections, a large number of sops have been announced for the middle class and the farmers.

Bangalore, Feb 29 (IANS) This was one reaction that might stun Finance Minister P. Chidambaram who has announced Rs.600 billion ($15 billion) farm loan waiver in his 2008-09 union budget presented in Parliament Friday.

Chandigarh, Feb 29 (IANS) Leaders and workers of the ruling Congress party in Haryana hailed the union budget presented Friday by bursting crackers, distributing sweets and doing the traditional 'bhangra' dance.

New Delhi, Feb 29 (IANS) Promising to spur growth with equity, India's Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram Friday unveiled a Rs.7,508 billion/$185-billion national budget that includes a massive loan waiver for farmers and hikes social sector spending, all aimed at winning popular support for impending elections.

Lucknow, Feb 29 (IANS) The union government's decision to wave off agriculture loans to the tune of Rs.600 billion ($15 billion) is unlikely to alleviate the sufferings of the poverty-ridden population of Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, said a World Bank consultant.

New Delhi, Feb 29 (IANS) P. Chidambaram is a smart man who blends his Tamil sartorial taste with an appetite for economic reforms. As he presented his fifth and last budget of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, he was, just for the whole of this day, what Shah Rukh Khan is to the people of India the rest of the year.

Ahmedabad, Feb 29 (IANS) The Rs.600 billion ($15 billion) farm loan waiver announced by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the union budget Friday was a 'retrograde step' when it came to the corporate governance of banks, an expert with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) said.

Mumbai, Feb 29 (IANS) The tourism and hospitality industry was disappointed with the national budget for 2008-09, saying it has ignored this booming sector completely.

New Delhi/Kolkata, Feb 29 (IANS) The union budget for 2008-09 did not address the problems faced by the Indian exporters, who have been affected due to the rising rupee against the dollar, exporters said Friday.

New Delhi, Feb 29 (IANS) The 2008-09 budget presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Friday evoked a mixed response from those concerned with women's development issues.

New Delhi, Feb 29 (IANS) As Congress leaders brought truckloads of farmers to party president Sonia Gandhi's home Friday to thank her for the loan waiver in this year's budget, politicians reacted along predictable lines - the Congress and coalition partners hailed it, while its Left allies and the opposition termed it populist and election-oriented.

New Delhi, Feb 29 (IANS) The national budget for 2008-09 did not address the problems faced by Indian exporters, who have been affected due to the rising rupee against the dollar, exporters said Friday.

Bhopal, Feb 29 (IANS) Welcoming the union budget for 2008-09, the Madhya Pradesh unit of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) said it was a boon for all in general and the state in particular.