Modi's tax overhaul to strain finances

NEW DELHI, Aug 17 (Reuters): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's deepest tax cuts in eight years will strain government revenues but are winning praise from businesses and political pundits who say they will bolster his image in an ongoing trade fight with Washington.

In the biggest tax overhaul since 2017, Modi's government on Saturday announced sweeping changes to the complex goods and services tax (GST) regime which will make daily essentials and electronics cheaper from October, helping consumers and also companies like Nestle, Samsung and LG Electronics.

At the same time, in his Independence Day speech on Friday, Modi urged Indians to use more goods made domestically, echoing calls from many of his supporters to boycott US products after Donald Trump hiked tariffs on imports from India to 50 per cent as of August 27.