Budget offers investment opportunities for French companies in India: Sanjeev Singla

Ambassador of India urges French investors to participate in India growth story

To encourage the French companies in various sectors to enhance their engagement with India, the Embassy of India in Paris in association with CCIFI, Chamber of Commerce and Industry France India, based in Paris, organised a conference on the opportunities for the French businesses presented by the Union Budget of India for the year 2025-26.

The presentation of Union Budget is a key policy tool that foreign investors need to keep an eye out for and the Budget for the year 2025-26 opens up a number of potential investment opportunities for foreign companies, especially those in France, Ambassador of India to France Sanjeev Singla told leading French businesses at a conference organised by the Embassy of India in partnership with the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie Franco Indienne or Chamber of Commerce and Industry France India (CCIFI), a leading Indo-French chamber of commerce and industry, based in Paris.

Delivering a keynote address at the meeting, Singla outlined India’s immense scale and key sectors which offered tremendous opportunities for French businesses to be part of India’s growth story.

“We have the world’s largest number of real-time online transactions. In fact, we are the world’s largest free space for disruptive technology. I am sure you are also familiar with India Stack. The reason I mention these three broad points is because it is when you look at these pointsas the context for our budget, you start appreciating the concrete policies of the budget on why and how we are seeking to accelerate our growth, seeking inclusive development, enhancing the spending power of the middle class, invigorating our private sector investments and upholding the household sentiment. It also explains why we remain focussed on what we call development engines of agriculture, supporting our MSMEs, people by investing in education, by investing in skilling, R&D and infrastructure,” Singla said.

“Let me remind you that India is not a country but a continent. A continent of staggering scale in terms of area, in terms of population, in terms of complexity and diversity. We are of course the world’s largest democracy, but I think more importantly, we are a stable democracy. India celebrated the 75th anniversary of its independence just two years ago. India-France relations today are in a qualitatively different direction. We are celebrating 25 years of our strategic partnership and the real news in our relationship is not the defence

and security relationship. Those are important pillars and they are on a quarter pile, but our emphasis is on an increasing cooperation in science and technology and innovation sectors which is befitting our aspiration to be leaders in the knowledge economy arena,” he added.

Singla also referred to the recent advances made in the ongoing negotiations between India and the European Union on a Free Trade Agreement and said that it could be a significant milestone in bilateral trade which has been growing rapidly.

“I am sure you will have followed the news about India-EU FTA negotiations. There is a new momentum in that. The EU, of course, is India’s largest trading partner. Over EUR 120 billion of trading in goods and over EUR 60 billion of trading in services. In fact, the services sector has been the real news because it has literally doubled from EUR 30 billion in the past five years. And I am sure the panellists today will be touching on very, very strong macro-economic fundamentals of the economy, how in our budget we treat the specific policy incentives, also touch on growth areas which represent real opportunities for investment of French businesses in India, like energy and utilities sector, food and agribusiness, logistics, mobility and the merchandise sector,’’ Singla said.

Coumar Ananda, President, CCIFI, outlined the reasons for organising the conference and why India’s Union Budget mattered for French businesses.

“Today’s conference is about the Indian Budget 2025. It is important for us in France at the Chamber and also for the Embassy to do this conference for two reasons. First, I think we sometimes don’t realise how important teh budget is in India, the budget. It is of course, embodies a certain vision and also the aspirations of 1.5 billion Indians. And more than that, it has certain elements that are of interest for the French companies, in terms of investment opportunties and expansion scenarios in India. And today’s conference is all about how do we actually take benefit from the budget and how do we actually expand in India. How do we continue to invest in India to increase the bilateral trade today between France and India,” Ananda told Media India Group.

He added that the conference was part of a larger attempt to promote bilateral Indo-French trade. “Just to give you a little bit of context as well. When you see where we are today in the bilateral trade, there is much to be done and this budget, it is the right opportunity for us to give for the French audience an explanation and a direction for the future investments,” Ananda added.

The Ambassador’s address was followed by a presentation of investment opportunities in India for French companies, made by Invest India, a government organisation mandated with promoting Foreign Direct Investment in India.

A key element of the conference was a panel discussion on the nitty-gritties of the budget, with its implications for  investment opportunities in India in various sectors, especially those of special interest to the French companies. The panel featured Vijay Phadke, a senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India and a specialist of Indo-French commercial relations, Pallavi Tyagi, EVP, Capgemini, the largest French software and consultancy company with a significant footprint in India, Sanjay Singh, Head of Territory and CEO, BNP Paris India, a large French bank, Christophe Eck, Partner, Gide Loyrette Nouel, a large French law firm with cross-border specialities. The session was moderated by Tanvi Chopra, a Delhi-based chartered accountant.

Delivering the concluding address, Eenam Gambhir, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, invited the French businesses to enhance their engagement with India and contribute to the rapid developments taking place within India.