Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday, 16 June said that the India-France bilateral partnership is gaining renewed momentum across technology, innovation, and strategic sectors, as he invited French businesses and investors to participate in India's growth story. Goyal made the remarks during a visit to France, where he toured key innovation hubs and engaged with industry leaders, researchers, and government representatives.

Dinner with Industry Leaders and Academics

Goyal shared that he attended a dinner hosted by noted jurist and IIT Delhi Board Chairperson Harish Salve, where he interacted with industry leaders from both India and France, alongside members of academia, researchers, and innovators. The minister said the gathering reflected the depth of people-to-people and institutional ties between the two nations.

He noted that the India-France relationship has gained fresh momentum under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, with cooperation expanding across strategic, economic, technology, and innovation sectors.

Tour of Sophia Antipolis: Europe's Largest Tech Hub

A central highlight of Goyal's France visit was his tour of Sophia Antipolis, widely described as Europe's largest science and technology hub and often called Europe's Silicon Valley. The park is home to more than 2,600 companies operating across a wide range of advanced technology sectors.

Goyal said the hub offers a successful model of how research, talent, and enterprise can converge to drive innovation and economic growth. He invited industry leaders at the technology park to explore opportunities for investment, collaboration, and scaling up operations in India, positioning the country as a rising global centre for innovation and manufacturing.

Bharat Innovates 2026 in Nice

In Nice, Goyal met local leaders and representatives from government, business, innovation, and investment circles to further strengthen bilateral cooperation. He highlighted that Nice is hosting Bharat Innovates 2026 at the Palais des Expositions — an event showcasing India's deep-tech capabilities through the participation of 120 startups and more than 20 Institutes of Excellence across 13 technology domains.

According to the minister, the event has attracted over 350 global investors and venture capitalists, reflecting growing international interest in India's expanding innovation and startup ecosystem. Goyal said India's innovation ecosystem is creating new avenues for partnerships and co-development of technologies that can benefit not only India and France but also the wider global community.

Strategic Significance of the Outreach

This comes amid India's broader push to deepen ties with European technology markets, with Goyal's visit forming part of a sustained diplomatic and economic engagement with France. The outreach to Sophia Antipolis and the staging of Bharat Innovates 2026 in Nice signal a deliberate strategy to attract European deep-tech capital and co-development partnerships to India. Notably, France is already one of India's key strategic partners in defence, nuclear energy, and space — and the focus on technology and startups marks an expansion of that relationship into civilian innovation corridors.

The minister is expected to carry forward these engagements as India looks to translate diplomatic goodwill into concrete investment commitments in the months ahead.