France Plans to Push Investment Ties Between its Indian Ocean Territory and South India

New Delhi: Ambassador of France to India Emmanuel Lenain will pay an official visit to Chennai, on December 7-8, aimed at strengthening economic and investment cooperation between France including the Reunion Islands and Tamil Nadu with which Paris share historical ties.

France shares a close and long-standing relationship with Tamil Nadu which includes deep cultural and people-to-people ties in particular between the state and France’s Reunion Island. Moreover, owing to its manufacturing and innovation-oriented ecosystem, Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai, has emerged as a hub of French business and investments in India.

Tamil Nadu is home to more than 140 French companies and attracts a significant share of all French investments in India. French companies are present in many priority sectors such as automotive, healthcare, industry, digital technologies, services, or energy. Despite the pandemic, they have continued investing in Tamil Nadu, with significant projects such as Engie’s 250 MW wind power plant in Tuticorin and Total’s new LPG plan in Coimbatore. To reflect this growing partnership, France decided in 2017 to open a Bureau de France in Chennai whose mission is to boost cooperation, exchanges, and mobility, including that of students, between France and Tamil Nadu.

During this visit, Lenain will meet Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami. The talks will focus on how France and French companies can continue contributing to Tamil Nadu’s ambitious development goals in the areas of industry, R&D and renewable energy. Lenain will also highlight the significant business opportunities for Indian companies wishing to invest in France, particularly in La Réunion Island.

In this context, the Ambassador will also hold talks with Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Industry, Thiru M.C. Sampath, and participate in the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau of Tamil Nadu and the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This MoU establishes a framework to facilitate connections between French businesses and Tamil Nadu, enabling investments and promoting ease of doing business.

Among the many French companies that are present in Tamil Nadu, Lenain will visit Air Liquide’s medical systems facility where medical ventilators are manufactured. During the pandemic, Air Liquide Medical Systems India ramped up production to supply 1000 ventilators to Tamil Nadu’s hospitals, mirroring the support that the France and India lent each other during this crisis.

In order to promote France as an attractive investment destination for Tamil Nadu’s companies, the envoy will visit the main factory of the Royal Enfield motorbike company which has established a site in France to address the European market. In 2019, France became the top FDI destination in Europe and in the context of Brexit, will be cementing its position as the gateway to Europe for Indian investors.

Cooperation in climate and environment is a major pillar of Indo-French partnership, both at the bilateral level and on the international stage. Lenain will also visit Kabadiwala, an Indian start-up that aims to revolutionize urban waste management through digital solutions.

Source: ET