<span style="color: #222222;">Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman on Thursday said the Government's initiatives have assured availability of two lakh crore rupees credit assurance without collateral guarantee for MSMEs. She said, this will reduce the loan expenditure by one per cent and available from April this year. She held post budget interactions with stakeholders in Hyderabad on Thursday afternoon. Describing MSMEs as growth engines of the  economy, she said the Budget proposes enhanced limits for micro enterprises and certain professionals for availing the benefit of presumptive taxation. She said to support MSMEs in timely receipt of payments, the Budget allows deduction for expenditure incurred on payments made to them only when payment is actually made.<br />'' <br />'' Interacting with leaders of various sectors including MSMEs, Industries, Manufacturers and suppliers, she said the National Data Governance Policy will be  brought out to unleash innovation and research by start-ups and academia. Date of incorporation for income tax benefits to start-ups will be   extended from the 31st of March this year to the 31st of March next year.  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"><br />''<br />''She also said, the proposal to provide the benefit of carry forward of losses on change of shareholding of start-ups from seven years of incorporation to ten years is under consideration. Responding to questions, the Minister said, the digital public infrastructure for agriculture will be built as an open source, open standard and interoperable public good to enable inclusive farmer centric solutions. She added that this will  support growth of the agri-tech industry and start-ups. She further said the number of startups increased from 400 to 1200 in the sector during the last one month. Ministers of State for Finance and secretaries also participated.</span><br />