{"id":7506,"date":"2025-08-18T16:45:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T16:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/7506\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T16:45:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T16:45:09","slug":"modi-gives-tax-boon-to-indias-economy-amid-trump-tariff-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/7506\/","title":{"rendered":"Modi gives tax boon to India&#8217;s economy amid Trump tariff tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Narendra Modi, India&#8217;s prime minister, during the nation&#8217;s Independence Day ceremony at Red Fort in New Delhi, India, on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Indian markets rallied on Monday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#8217;s recently revealed tax cuts extended a gift to a domestic economy that still faces the teeth of U.S. tariffs.<\/p>\n<p>The Nifty 50 index advanced 1%, with the BSE Sensex adding 0.84%. In currencies, the U.S. dollar surrendered 0.18% against the rupee.<\/p>\n<p>In an extensive Independence Day speech on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a concerted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2156701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">push for self-reliance<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbctv18.com\/market\/stocks\/pm-modi-independence-day-speech-9-announcements-to-watch-for-market-impact-19654475.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">proposed a spate of financial reforms<\/a>. New Delhi now plans a two-rate structure of 5% and 18% under wide-spanning changes to the goods and services tax (GST) regime, and plans to abolish the previous 12% and 28% levies imposed on some items, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/india\/india-tax-cut-plan-boosts-shares-nifty-set-best-day-3-months-2025-08-18\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Reuters cited<\/a> a government official as saying on Friday. The news was also <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/breaking-news-live-updates-august-15\/liveblog\/123312695.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">reported by local media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The reforms aim to simplify compliance, lower tax rates, and modernise the GST framework to make it more growth-oriented. Industry executives expect measures such as rationalising rates into two slabs, easing the tax burden on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), cutting levies on essential goods, and using technology-driven processes like pre-filled returns and faster refunds to encourage investment,&#8221; the India Brand Equity Foundation said, adding that manufacturing, logistics, housing and consumer goods could stand to gain.<\/p>\n<p>India&#8217;s autos industry could also emerge as one of the beneficiaries of the new tax policies after a sluggish stretch in recent months. Sales of India&#8217;s passenger vehicles, which include cars, added 4.2% percent in the 2024 calendar year, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.siam.in\/pressrelease-details.aspx?mpgid=48&amp;pgidtrail=50&amp;pid=576\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">said in January<\/a> \u2013 the slowest growth pace in four years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/autos-transportation\/indian-car-makers-annual-sales-growth-screeches-four-year-low-2025-01-14\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">according to Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Auto sector stocks saw increases during the Monday session, as Maruti Suzuki India adding 8.75%, while Hyundai Motor India rose by 8.15%.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m certainly positive about the announcement, and the autos sector being a relative laggard in recent quarters, so not surprising to see that sector bounce back quite strongly,&#8221; James Thom, senior investment director on the Asian equities team at Aberdeen, told CNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Inside India on Monday.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"InlineVideo-videoThumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/108187029-1755506138552-1755500801-41234557737-hd.jpg\" alt=\"India's consumer tax overhaul could offset U.S. tariff pains, Aberdeen says\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Modi&#8217;s tax overhaul could shore up India&#8217;s economy, which the Reserve Bank of India sees growing 6.5% in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, at a time of deep geopolitical uncertainty stoked by Washington&#8217;s sweeping so-called &#8220;reciprocal tariffs.&#8221; New Delhi in particular has fallen in the crosshairs of U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration over its ongoing purchases of Russian crude, with Washington <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/08\/06\/trump-trade-india-tariffs-russia.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">imposing an additional 25% levy<\/a> on Indian imports \u2014 bringing total duties to 50% \u2014 due to take effect at the end of this month.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;India is a domestic consumption story. Exports is a relatively small contributor. So this [tax overhaul] could more than offset that impact of tariffs,&#8221; Aberdeen&#8217;s Thom said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;From a fundamental standpoint, absolutely, I think the changes to the GST regime will be supportive near-term for consumption as it comes through later in the year. And consumption has been weak in India for quite some time now, so this is a real sort of boost to the economy, if you like, given India&#8217;s economy is so dependent on domestic consumption.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Domestic intake is &#8220;one of the most compelling indicators investors are closely monitoring,&#8221; and the &#8220;largest driver of economic growth in India,&#8221; with a 61.4% GDP contribution in the 2024-25 fiscal year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deloitte.com\/us\/en\/insights\/topics\/economy\/asia-pacific\/india-economic-outlook.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Deloitte said in an August report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Notably, urban consumption and a shift in spending preferences toward luxury goods are emerging as key pillars of this momentum,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n<p>India Ratings &amp; Research meanwhile<a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiaratings.co.in\/pressrelease\/78007\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> forecast India&#8217;s private final consumption rate<\/a> in the fiscal year to the end of March 2026 will expand by an annual 6.9%, outpacing a broader 6.3% GDP growth outlook over the period, on the back of low real wage increases, declines in household savings and a boost to personal loans.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A sharp decline in inflation has improved the prospects for stable consumption growth in FY26,&#8221; it added. India&#8217;s retail inflation has slowed from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/02\/12\/india-inflation-slows-for-a-third-straight-month-.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">4.31% in January<\/a> to its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/08\/12\/india-cpi-july-inflation.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">lowest since 2017 at 1.55% in July<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Narendra Modi, India&#8217;s prime minister, during the nation&#8217;s Independence Day ceremony at Red Fort in New Delhi, India,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[4055,7033,491,5490,79,207,179,18,19,17,188,790,1997],"class_list":{"0":"post-7506","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-asia-economy","9":"tag-breaking-news-economy","10":"tag-breaking-news-markets","11":"tag-breaking-news-politics","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-business-news","14":"tag-economy","15":"tag-eire","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-markets","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-trade"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}