France to provide over €2 billion for ‘Smart Cities’

France to provide over €2 billion for ‘Smart Cities’
France to provide over €2 billion for ‘Smart Cities’

PerformanceGurus Staff

The French Development Agency (AFD) on Friday said that it is committed to providing over €2 billion ($2.26 billion) in the next three years for India’s “Smart Cities” project.

“AFD’s commitment is to provide 2 billion euros over the next 3years of loans to support smart cities and sustainable development in India,” its chief Pascal Pacaut told media here after it and the Indian finance ministry’s department for economic affairs held their 6th annual negotiation meeting on Thursday regarding the implementation of India’s “smart cities” project.

France has extended its support in investing in building “smart cities” here, Ambassador to India Francois Richier told media.

“It is our priority to support green and inclusive growth in India,” he said.

He said the focus will be on the three cities of Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry, while there is an investment of €200 million ($226 million) for the extension of Bangalore metro.

“Our priority is also to create energy efficiency in municipal street lighting with EESL (Energy Efficiency Service Ltd) at (an outlay of) €50 million ($56.5 million),” he said.

“It is our priority to support green and inclusive growth in India”

– Francois Richier, Ambassador to India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited France in April and France had committed €600 million ($678 million) for “Smart Cities” and projects related to sustainability, including in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Richier had also visited Puducherry himself to review the implementation of the project. He will also visit Chandigarh for the same purpose.

Note:
1. The conversion rate used in this article is 1 Eruo = 1.136 dollars.
2. Some of the content is used from IANS
3. Text in Bold points to additional data on the topic.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Earlier It was agreed that AFD would finance projects contributing to the sustainable management of global public goods, good now they are supporting to develop smart cities !!!

  2. Good information, it is really good to know, foreign countries are funding for Indian development. Hoping the smart cities projects goes well.

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