India to play key role as EU, France seek to diversify supply chains: French minister

New Delhi: India will play a key part as Europe and France seek to diversify their supply chains in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and sanctions imposed on Russia in recent weeks, French minister for foreign trade and economic attractiveness Franck Riester told ET.

"The Ukraine crisis has come on top of the Covid-19 crisis and is accelerating the need for Europe and France to rethink our value chains and supply chains. It's a matter of strategic autonomy. From semiconductors to energy and other key sectors, we are diversifying and increasing the resilience of our supply chains. India will play a key part in this endeavour. Co-localisation of production with India will be a priority," Riester said after a meeting with his Indian counterpart, Piyush Goyal.

French companies in India do not aim to address only the Indian market and both New Delhi and Paris are keen for third country exports including in Africa and Indo-Pacific regions from India, the minister said.


The meeting with Goyal was not just aimed at pushing an ambitious India-EU free trade agreement, but also at boosting investment flows between France and India, in both directions. "We are working on a real ambitious agenda for India-EU FTA and France as the current president of the Council of the EU is pushing that target. With respect to bilateral investments, the goal is not only about increasing French investments in India but also inviting more Indian FDI into France. Today France has become Europe's leading FDI destination and the government has introduced ambitious pro-business reforms, including lower corporate taxes for investors," Riester said.

Pointing out that the current French government is giving its highest priority to India, the minister said there would be several high-level official and industry delegations visiting this country in the coming weeks and months. Smart cities, water management, connectivity, renewables, nuclear energy and the blue economy are among key sectors for French investments in India, he said. "We are focussing on a sustainable development model."

With more than 1,000 French establishments already present in India, France has made a cumulative investment of $9.86 billion from April 2000 to June 2021. Simultaneously, Indian businesses have established around 200 subsidiaries in France.

France is also partnering with India to develop Chandigarh, Puducherry and Nagpur as smart cities with a commitment of more than $2.2 billion. India and France are also in the field of renewable energy cooperation towards development of technological know-how, and aid the process of attaining India's ambitious target of 450 gigawatt of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030.