Chandigarh, Puducherry, Nagpur on France's smart city radar

Chandigarh French President Francois Hollande on Sunday began the economic leg of his threeday visit to India offering his countrys assistance in the development of at least three smart cities Chandigarh Puducherry and NagpurThe announcement came during two backtoback meetings which the visiting head of state along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi held here with the corporate leaderships of the two countries The first meeting was with the IndoFrench CEOs ForumFollowing the first economic engagement the two leaders then attended the larger IndiaFrance Business Summit hosted by Indias Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian IndustryThe businesses of the two sides also signed 16 pacts mainly in urban development and clean energy but also covering one agreement on aerospace between the French giant Airbus and Indias MahindrasAddressing the meeting with the IndoFrench CEOs Forum Prime Minister Modi said India today presented immense opportunities to the global investing community both as a market and a hub for manufacturingIndia is the fastest growing economy in the world We have the labour and the market for your products Modi said India is also a source of hope and confidence for the entire world community he said adding that the investment climate had also improved considerablyModi who recalled having met the French president five times last year also said that Frances greatest strength has been innovation which can fit well with Indias talent This kind of partnership can achieve a lotHollande on his part said his visit here had two main goals consolidating the strategic partnership with India in a host of areas including security and implementing the climate change goals that were set forth in the global conference in Paris last yearWithout the intervention of Prime Minister Modi on climate justice there would have been no agreement the French president said referring to what is formally called a meeting of the Conference of Parties under UN Framework Convention on Climate ChangeFrance will contribute in the development of Indian smart cities of Chandigarh Nagpur and Puducherry the French president said He had already declared a 225billion line of credit for the Smart Cities project of Prime Minister ModiChandigargh already has a French connection having been planned by noted French architect Le Corbusier Puducherry has been a former French enclave And in Nagpur the French are also interested in the citys metro and the upcoming strategic industry in its vicinityBig French firms like Alstom Dassault Egis Lumiplan RATP Transdev and Schneider are interested in the Smart Cities Mission Highprofile visits have already been made last year to Puducherry September 10 Chandigarh October 12 and Nagpur December 1617Some 30 business leaders from the two sides attended the halfhour meeting of the IndoFrench CEOs Forum which was formed in 2009 to identify new avenues to push bilateral economic ties between the two countriesThe agenda for discussions included defence green economy smart cities infrastructure transportation water and financial sector Hollande is in India as this years chief guest for its Republic Day on January 26Besides talks with the Indian leadership his engagement includes the inauguration of the International Solar Alliance secretariat at National Institute of Solar Energy at Gwal Pahari on the GurgaonFaridabad Road along with ModiThe alliance of 122 nations was announced by Modi and Hollande in Paris on November 30According to the available data French investments in India total around 19 billion giving jobs to 280000 jobs while the stock of Indian investments in France is some 700 million with 7000 jobs The bilateral trade is around 8 billion skewed in Indias favour