Northern France woos India for investments in rail, logistics

Northern France has invited Indian businessmen to invest in rail, automotive, logistics, health, IT and multimedia projects to take advantage of its strategic location and proximity to key commercial centres.

A business delegation led by Nord France Invest, which is the investment promotion agency for Northern France, during its India visit asked Indian investors to set up their business there which is situated in a strategic geographical location with the key business centres in the Europe.

“Investing in Lille Region means connectivity with other countries as well because of its location…It has access to market with 78 million people of total purchasing power of 1.5 billion euro per year,” Director General and Chief Executive Officer of Nord France invest, Yann Pitollet, said in an interaction here.

The region, also known as Lille Region, already has presence of corporates including Tata Steel, Titagarh Wagons, ArcelorMittal, Accord Healthcare, Horizon AI and Blue Stamping Forging.

In 2010, India’s leading wagon maker, Titagarh Wagons had acquired the assets and business of the financially stressed French wagons and rolling stock manufacturer Arbel Fauvet Rail based in Lille Region.

This acquisition is expected to provide Titagarh Wagons with an additional production capacity of up to 5,000 wagons per year and in turn initiate its expansion into European and global markets, Chairman, Nord France, Luc Doublet said.

This region has direct access to Europe’s largest consumers and is located only 300 kilometres from chief European capitals like London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Frankfurt, he said.

“The region combines a strategic geographical location with outstanding transport infrastructure, high speed trains, three major international airports (Paris, London, Brussels) and proximity to Antwerp and Rotterdam ports,” Doublet added.

The region also provides customised free services like general and specialised information, help find land and premises, business or technology partnership, site visits arrangements, help identifying and applying for public subsidies.

Apart from India, Lille Region is eyeing to attract investments from countries in Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, which has been its historical partner, and China as well as South Korea, Pitollet said.