France has promised investment of 2 billion euros for Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry under the smart city mission. Apart from euro 2 billion plus investment, there is another investment of 200 million euros for the extension of the Bangalore metro. François Richier, ambassador of France in India said on Wednesday here that “the Indian prime minister had visited France in April and his country had committed 600 million euros for smart cities and projects related to sustainability, including renewable energy and energy efficiency.”
Besides developing the smart cities, France was keen to develop heritage sites and tourism for the smart cities, he added at a seminar on ‘Towards Smart and Sustainable Cities’ organised by FICCI, the French embassy ministry of urban development (MoUD).
Durga Shanker Mishra, additional secretary, MoUD, read out a message from Venkaiah Naidu, minister of urban development, housing and urban poverty alleviation and parliamentary affairs, saying “India and France have a long-term economic and strategic partnership and the creation of smart cities was a great challenge, which could become a huge opportunity for French investment. With France, already pledging financial support in developing three cities in the country, the Indian government was looking towards more such partnerships with France.”