The French renaissance in Chennai

Bienvenue, France !

The Frenchmen living in Chennai are gearing up to welcome….well….more Frenchmen.

What with several companies from the land of Napolean — St Gobain, Alstom, Areva, to name a few — choosing Chennai as their India base, the number of Frenchmen in the city has grown to 700, trebling in the last five years.

That this number will only increase is a one-way bet. When the French tyre major, Michelin, which is putting up a Rs 7,000-crore factory at Thiruvoikondigai, north of Chennai, goes operational, there will be at least 60 more Frenchmen in the city.

The ‘Renault' part of the Renault-Nissan car plant, at Oragadam, is yet to begin operations. When it does we will see more Frenchmen here. Alstom is gearing up to setting up a plant to make metro coaches for Chennai Metro Rail Ltd.

And don't forget Peugeot. The State Government is trying its very best to convince the French car major that Tamil Nadu is the hottest destination for automobile companies.

Not too long ago, a group of industrialists and corporate honchos from Chennai met a high-level Peugeot delegation to tell the visitors how good Chennai is, and by all accounts, the French company is warm to Tamil Nadu.

You know how it is — like in a jigsaw puzzle — the first few pieces fall into place, the rest fall into place rapidly. Presently, Chennai will have a ‘little France', like ‘little India' in Singapore. (By the way, the Japanese are building a township for their compatriots, too.)

There is going to be a French school in Chennai earlier than we have restaurants serving mouth-watering Fleur de sel or Coq au vin , because Michelin is working with a “local school” to bring in French education for the children of the Frenchmen here. The French school will be “within the Indian school”.

It is not, mind you, teaching of the French language, but a set-up that will give the children the same education they would receive back home.

Mr Jean Pierre Guibbert, Senior Vice-President Personnel, Michelin India Tamil Nadu Tyres Pvt Ltd, would give no further details about the school, except to say that it would start classes from August. But Ms Camille Allauzen, International Mobility Manager, Michelin India, gives this little bit more — a French school in Puducherry will involve itself.

“A major limitation,” says Mr Jerome Rodriguez, Chairman of the newly-formed Chennai Chapter of the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, “is the absence of a school for the French children here.”

Now, the limitation is going to be taken off.

Peugeot, are you listening?

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