FM Sitharaman Invites French Firms To Invest In AI, Clean Energy And Healthcare At Paris Roundtable

New Delhi, Jul 3 (KNN) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday invited French businesses and investors to deepen engagement with India across artificial intelligence, clean energy, healthcare, digital infrastructure, and financial services, at the India-France Business Roundtable held in Paris.

Sitharaman highlighted that India-France trade has doubled over the past decade and that around 1,000 French companies currently operate in India. 

She described the India-France Strategic Partnership as uniquely positioned to drive the next phase of sustainable, resilient, and innovation-led growth amid a rapidly evolving global economy shaped by technological transformation, supply chain diversification, energy transition, and geopolitical developments.

AI and Digital Infrastructure

The Finance Minister said India and France were trusted partners in shaping the global AI ecosystem, with opportunities for collaboration in trusted AI, digital infrastructure, and next-generation technologies. 

She highlighted India's position as a leading digital economy powered by Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) including Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, ONDC, and India Stack, noting that India accounts for nearly half of the world's real-time digital payments.

Clean Energy and Healthcare

Sitharaman said India's clean energy transition — including a target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, the National Green Hydrogen Mission, and Production Linked Incentive schemes — was creating substantial investment opportunities in renewable energy, green hydrogen, battery storage, offshore wind, and smart grids. 

She also invited collaboration in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology, citing complementary strengths in life sciences, vaccines, active pharmaceutical ingredients, clinical research, precision medicine, and digital health to build resilient healthcare value chains.

Financial Services and Infrastructure

Sitharaman highlighted GIFT City's International Financial Services Centres Authority as a leading global financial hub, with more than 1,200 registered entities as of June 2026, banking assets of USD 111 billion, and cumulative banking transactions of USD 176 billion, with expanding opportunities in banking, fund management, leasing, Global Capability Centres, reinsurance, and sustainable finance.

She also presented the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund as offering long-term investment opportunities through its upcoming USD 3.5 billion Infrastructure Fund II and USD 1 billion Private Markets Fund II, spanning infrastructure, digital infrastructure, green hydrogen, energy transition, and other high-growth sectors.

Participants from leading French financial institutions acknowledged India's decadal reforms and efforts to reduce the compliance burden, and offered suggestions for establishing deeper and more sustainable investment collaboration between the two countries.

(KNN Bureau)