New Delhi, 03 July (H.S.): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has invited French businesses and investors to become partners in India's Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, urging them to collaborate in the country's long-term growth journey. She also underscored the need to further strengthen the India-France strategic partnership and work together for shared prosperity.

Addressing the India-France Business Roundtable Conference in Paris on Thursday, Sitharaman said the two countries are working closely in the fields of technology, innovation, energy, and digital transformation. She noted that the India-France strategic partnership continues to grow stronger with time.

The Finance Minister encouraged French investors to explore opportunities in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology by leveraging the complementary strengths of both nations. She highlighted areas such as life sciences, vaccines, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), clinical research, precision medicine, and digital health as key sectors for collaboration to build resilient healthcare value chains.

Sitharaman said India and France are trusted partners in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). She informed the gathering that nearly 1,000 French companies are currently operating in India, reflecting the growing economic engagement between the two countries.

Highlighting India's evolving financial ecosystem, Sitharaman said the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has emerged as a major global financial hub. She noted that, as of June 2026, more than 1,200 entities had been registered with the IFSCA, while banking assets had reached USD 111 billion and cumulative banking transactions had crossed USD 176 billion.

She said opportunities are expanding rapidly across sectors including banking, treasury management, leasing, Global Capability Centres (GCCs), reinsurance, and sustainable finance.

The Finance Minister further stated that India and France are well-positioned to shape the global AI landscape as reliable partners and can deepen cooperation in trusted AI, digital infrastructure, and next-generation technologies.

She also highlighted India's digital economy, powered by Digital Public Infrastructure initiatives such as Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, ONDC, and India Stack, noting that these platforms collectively facilitate nearly half of the world's real-time digital payment transactions.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar