Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s France visit on April 10 proved to be very fruitful. As per reports, France will collaborate with India in the development of its smart cities. The country would also partner India in a study aimed at the upgradation of the Chandigarh-Delhi Railway Line and speeding it up to 200 km per hour. Renovation of Ludhiana and Ambala Railway Station has also been planned.
In his meeting with Modi, French President Francois Hollande expressed his keen interest in the list of smart cities to be developed in India. As a result, it was marked as the technical cooperation under the field of Sustainable Urban Development between India and France. The assistance from France would be a major help for the government of India in setting up self-sufficient smart cities in different parts of the country. These smart cities would also boost the residential and commercial real estate around these areas.
Accordingly, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the National Architecture Institute in Paris and School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi. Both the countries would jointly undertake extensive studies on urban planning, geographical planning and its environmental consequences. A well-planned urban area would also call for an increased residential property demands. Franch would also assist India in the engineering and technical aspects of its smart cities.
The two countries also signed a railway protocol for the development of semi high-speed rail on the Delhi-Chandigarh line. Indian Railways and French National Railways would undertake an execution study on the same and the project would be co-financed by both sides. A deal was also signed between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and French National Center for Space Studies (CNES). It proposes a collaboration between the countries in the areas of Satellite communication, meteorology, planetary exploration and other space research related operations. This covers Mars Exploration and other joint earth observation mission.
A great deal of cooperative agreements have been signed between the two countries which would boost the overall development of our country’s infrastructure and would improve the scenari of real estate in India.