Rs 2000 cr French Loan for Puducherry Infra Development: CM
PUDUCHERRY, July 14: Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today said a
French financial institution would extend assistance of more than Rs 2,000
crore for developing infrastructure in the Union Territory.
"France and India have very good relations in several sectors and the
French government has helped our country on several counts. The relations
between France and Puducherry are also very vivid and robust," he said.
The Chief Minister was addressing French nationals and officials of French
government at a reception held at the French Consulate here on the occasion of
the celebration of the 227th French National Festival.
He said the Agence Francaise Developpement, a public financial institution in
France implementing programmes for sustainable development, would provide more
than Rs 2,000 crore to Puducherry for infrastructure development.
This amount would be available to the central government from AFD as a
long-term loan and the Centre would in turn allocate it to Puducherry as grant,
he said.
Stating that Puducherry government was "reworking" on the Smart City
project by integrating Puducherry and Oulgaret municipalities, he said during
his recent visit here, French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler had
expressed interest in encouraging the beach restoration scheme of Puducherry.
He said that while Lt Governor Kiran Bedi was keen on achieving the goal of
"prosperous Puducherry", his ministry wanted to achieve development
and both "are thus having common objective of an ideally developed and
prosperous Puducherry".
The tiny Union Territory needed the help and support of the Centre, he said
adding his government "is maintaining good relations with the
Centre".
Earlier, Consul General of France Philippe Janvier Kamiyama said France was
already supporting the efforts of India to guarantee energy availability and
its supply by developing renewable energy sources, particularly solar energy as
part of ambitious international Solar Aliance that will benefit at least 100
countries.
He also said France had offered to become a key partner in the development of
smart cities programme, which he described as an "inspiring" project
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also appreciated the thriving business of French companies in Tamil Nadu and
particularly in Chennai and its suburbs.
-PTI
 (1) (2) (1)_20241009154859_original_image_49.webp)
