The French government plans to offer zero per cent loans to Indian companies willing to invest in the country and also offer job opportunities there to attract more investments. "There is a huge potential for investments in France as most of the Indian companies which want to diversify globally are looking at Europe as a preferred destination after the global meltdown in the US," Invest in France Agency's Inward Investment Officer Guillaume Page said.
Nearly 700 Indian companies have established their base in the UK, of which over 100 companies are in France, he said.
"We expect these numbers to go up considerably in the coming years. To attract more investments from India, the government is offering various financial incentives to such companies," Page said.
To support companies setting up projects in France, the Government would be providing financial incentives like zero interest rate loans. To avail the facility, the companies should invest a minimum of Euro 5-million and guarantee minimum 25 jobs in three-years of their establishment, he said.
"Such companies would be offered loans to the extent of 40 per cent of their investments at zero per cent interest rate," he said.
The government expects investments from sectors, including IT, automotive, steel, logistics and pharma. The bilateral trade between the two countries is expected to grow by 62 per cent by 2012, he said.
"Before recession, we expected the trade to go up to $18-billion by 2012. But now we expect it to rise to $13-billion from $8-billion recorded in 2009," Page said.
