Smart Cities: PM Modi’s dream project gets over € 2 billion from France

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Smart Cities project is making the right noise. After Germany expressing immense interest in PM Modi’s pet project, France has pledged over 2 billion euros for the project, with special focus on Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.

Francois Richier, the French ambassador in India made the announcement at 'Towards Smart and Sustainable Cities' seminar organised by FICCI, Embassy of France in India and the Ministry of Urban Development.

He further added that the country was also looking at an additional investment of 200 million Euros for the extension of Bangalore Metro. The French Ambassador asserted that France had committed 600 million Euros when PM Modi had visited France in April this year. Apart from Smart Cities, the country also aimed to focus on initiatives that revolved around sustainable development and renewable energy.

Cheering the development, Jyotsna Suri, president of industry body FICCI said, "This bottom up approach is an extremely progressive step which will positively help in proper planning and development of the cities. The Indian private sector also has a significant role to play in development of smart cities and industry seeks the government's support to facilitate and encourage the private sector for contributing towards this initiative."

It must be noted that apart from Germany, France has been showing keen interest in investing in India.