The Hindu Business Line : Taking relationship forward

THE scope for furthering Indo-French engagements in the future is undeniably huge, with potential sectors spanning a gamut of areas as varied as agriculture, machinery, defence, infrastructure and civilian nuclear power, fashion designing, transport, aerospace, tourism, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

While several of these sectors include areas where synergies already exist, both sides have potential for increased growth and investment. According to industry players, tremendous scope exists between the two countries for cooperating in the area of agriculture, especially for improving agricultural productivity in India.

Potential in defence, infrastructure: The defence sector is another key area for cooperation between the two sides, where present levels of engagements have the potential to go up manifold. India's key infrastructure sectors, most of which are in a state of disrepair, could be another area where French firms can look to invest in a big way since the Indian Government has opened up a majority of these sectors for foreign participation. With an ongoing road upgradation programme and airport-restructuring project currently underway, French companies have a lot to offer in terms of technology and equity participation in these key sectors.

Nuclear tech: Notably, the French expertise in civilian nuclear technology, where firms such as EDF have a core competence, could be an area of promise. Already, France is an important investor in India and many French companies are looking at India as a future growth engine and a bankable investment destination. However, the actual flows may still be lower than the actual potential, industry players estimate. Newer emerging areas include medical tourism, chemicals and pharmaceuticals and IT sectors, where French companies have scope for investing here.

Identifying key areas: According to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), for French firms to tap the investment potential effectively, it may be important to identify a few key sectors like food processing, energy production, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, defence production and telecom as the focus areas for investment from France into India, which need to be put into the fast track for clearance and investment.

Emerging partner: On the other hand, the Indian industry is now looking at investments into some sectors in other countries and France is predicted to emerge as an important partner. The biggest area for Indian investment into France could be in the area of pharmaceuticals, auto components and electronics industry, industry analysts estimate.

Also, with films and the fashion industry forming an important part of the French and Indian cultures, both countries can look at building joint platforms for regular cross-border movement of professionals from both these areas. This is also an important aspect for building people to people contact.