France announces four-city India tour with over 50 higher education institutions

France will bring more than 50 higher education institutions to India in October for a four-city education tour aimed at expanding academic cooperation and student mobility between the two countries.

The Choose France Tour will be held in Mumbai on October 11, Pune on Oct 13, New Delhi on Oct 15 and Bengaluru on Oct 17, according to Campus France, the official French government agency that promotes higher education in France.

The tour comes as India and France seek to strengthen their Special Global Strategic Partnership in higher education, innovation and artificial intelligence.

"This has been an exceptionally dynamic year for the India-France partnership, and this Tour carries that spirit forward," French Ambassador to India Thierry Mathou said.

The initiative follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France in June, during which the two countries signed 19 agreements covering their innovation ecosystems. They also adopted the India-France Innovation Roadmap 2030 and established a Joint India-France AI Working Group.

Modi also invited French universities to set up campuses in India, with education and student mobility identified as priority areas for bilateral cooperation. France has set a target of hosting 30,000 Indian students by 2030.

The number of Indian students in French higher education reached 9,100 in the 2024-25 academic year, Campus France said. India moved up from the 13th to the 11th largest source of international students in France during the period.

Visa and residence permit figures, which include exchange students and those enrolled in shorter programs, put the number of Indian students in France at 12,000 in 2025.

"French institutions of higher education offer outstanding programmes focused on innovation, artificial intelligence, aerospace and management, training students for a promising career not only in France but also in the international job market," Mathou said.

"Our target to host 30,000 Indian students in France by 2030 transcends mere statistics; it represents an endeavour to foster a future engineer, researcher or entrepreneur who will help carry the France-India Special Global Strategic Partnership forward. Choose France is where that future begins," he added.

The participating institutions include engineering and technology schools such as CentraleSupélec, Mines Paris-PSL and IMT Atlantique, as well as business schools including ESSEC, ESCP and EDHEC.

Public universities such as Université Paris Saclay and Université Grenoble Alpes will also participate in the tour.

Campus France India will provide students and their families with information and counseling on courses, scholarships, visas, accommodation and student life in France.

Campus France operates under the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Higher Education and assists international students with university admissions and visa applications.