NAGPUR: French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler Friday said that 12 agreements worth 200 million euro have been signed between French and Indian firms and these had the potential to create 3,000 jobs in Maharashtra.
Addressing business delegates at the Indo-French Conclave here, Ziegler said economic partnership between the two nations has been dynamic in the past few years.
“Our trade relations have grown by 20 per cent from last year and has doubled since 2009,” he said, adding that his country saw India not as “revenue” or “market” but as a “true and precious” partner.
The French Ambassador informed that 600 companies from his country have operations in India, employing 4 lakh people and investing around one billion euro annually.
“The Indo-French relationship goes beyond these figures and the potential is huge. We collectively need to work towards increasing the investment of French companies in India,” said Ziegler.
He expressed happiness at India achieving 77th position, a jump of 23 places, on World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking.
The 12 agreements signed include French multinational Thales Group signing pacts with seven Indian firms, namely Godrej Precision Engineering, Bharat Forge, Amphenol Interconnect India, Larsen & Toubro, Solar Explosives, Mahindra Defence Systems and Coriolis.
Other agreements included one between energy firm Technique Solaire and the Maharashtra Energy Development Agency as well as between aeronautical firm Turgis & Gaillard and the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC).
French ropeway firm Poma presented letters of intent for two projects in Nagpur and Tadoba, both in the state’s Vidarbha region.
French hospitality major Accor Hotels also exchanged a letter of intent with Gurugram-headquartered Interglobe Hotels Limited.
Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary general Payal Kanwar expressed delight at being able to organise an Indo-French business event of this size in Nagpur. PTI
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