Tax concessions for software firms to continue
Tax concessions for software companies will be extended, Jaswant Singh. Infosys Technologies, Wipro and other Indian software companies pay tax on 10 per cent of their software export income. The concession will continue, Singh said in his speech.

Budget makes markets happy; Sensex up 20 points
After opening higher, the equity markets today strengthened further in line with selective buying in key software and some old economy stocks. The main trigger for the equities was the removal of the tax on dividend income and capital gains from the next year. Markets turned volatile in the afternoon when the budget news started coming in. But, equities managed to rise again as Singh said concessions extended to IT under Section 10a and 12b will continue and income tax concessions will be extended to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies.

Private banks to open rural branches
To ensure timely availability of agricultural credit, private banks will be encouraged to open branches in rural areas to service the credit needs of both farm and non-farm sectors. This will be subject to RBI prudential norms and approvals, Singh said. The proposal for franchising agricultural credit, including through post offices, will be examined afresh. In order to pass the benefits of lower rates of interest to agriculture and the small-scale industries sector, Indian Bank Association will now advise its members to adopt the SBI interest rate band of 2 per cent above and below its prime lending rate for secured advances.