France to cooperate in future Bengaluru, Kochi metro projects

France is looking to collaborate in a major way in India's sustainable urban development and smart cities projects, and has evinced interest in the phase II Metro projects in Bengaluru and Kochi as well as in the launch of Metro services in Nagpur, officials said here on Wednesday.

French envoy Francois Richier, speaking at an event here, said bilateral cooperation in the field of sustainable development and smart cities was "very important" and France was "committed to working with India" in both the areas.

France's public financial institution Agence francaise de developpement (AFD) is providing the funding for the projects.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France (April 9-13), French President Francois Hollande decided to increase France's line of credit from euro 1 billion ($1.09 billion) for three years to euro 2 billion ($2.18 billion) to support projects related to sustainable urban development and smart cities in India.

As part of its earlier euro 1 billion commitment, AFD has spent half the funding on the Metro projects in Kochi and Bengaluru.

S. Selvakumar, joint secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, said on the sidelines of the event that among the major projects AFD was involved in were the Kochi and Bengaluru Metro projects and a water supply plant in Jodhpur.

He said among the future projects that AFD has voiced keenness to participate in were the phase II of the Kochi and Bengaluru Metro and a new Metro project in Nagpur.

Richier said France was also collaborating in the field of renewable energy, especially solar energy, in civil nuclear cooperation in the form of the six reactors to come up in Jaitapur in Maharashtra, and also in railways.

Pascal Pacaut, director for the Asia department of the AFD, said that after Modi's visit to France, the credit line has been increased to 2 billion euros.