French companies to invest $10 bn in India

New Delhi: French companies will be investing $10 billion in India over the next five years mainly in the country's industrial space, France's Finance Minister Michel Sapin said here on Monday.

"Over the past five years, French companies invested more than $1 billion per year in India. In my assessment, they will continue to invest at least $10 billion over the next five years," Sapin told a business meeting at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

The minister, who is in India accompanying President Francois Hollande on his official visit with a large business delegation, also said the bulk of the investments would go towards India's industrial sector as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" campaign.

Earlier in the day, Hollande said India and France will continue to improve economic ties in a host of areas. "We are particularly stressing on our economic ties in the field of agriculture and space," he said, after being accorded an official welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan.