Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday invited French companies to invest in India’s manufacturing sector, portraying the country as a reliable partner offering vast opportunities, talent and innovation.Speaking at the ‘Bharat Innovates’ event in Nice in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, Goyal said India can provide a large domestic market and manufacturing base for global exports.“I would like to invite our French friends to visit India, invest in India, design in India, innovate in India, manufacture in India, whether for the large domestic market or for export from India to the rest of the world,” he said.Highlighting India’s position in an uncertain global economy, Goyal said countries are increasingly looking for reliable economic partners.“…And this is what India brings to the table,” he said.The minister added that innovation has become a hallmark of the Indian economy and is driven by a fast-growing startup ecosystem.“In India, innovation is now a culture supported by 2,30,000 startups,” Goyal said.
Prime Minister Modi is currently in France, where he is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Macron and attend the G7 summit. He arrived in Nice on Saturday as part of a week-long tour that also includes a two-day visit to Slovakia.According to official data, bilateral trade between India and France was US$15.81 billion in 2025-26 compared to US$15.19 billion in 2024-25.France ranks as the 11th largest investor in India, with FDI reaching US$12.25 billion in the period from April 2000 to March 2025.
