France to Welcome 30,000 Indian Students by 2030, Expands Opportunities

France aims to strengthen its educational connections with India, hoping to host 30,000 Indian students by 2030, up from just 8,000 students enrolled for the current 2023-24 academic year. This objective, described to The Times of India by French ambassador Thierry Mathou, is a part of a wider strategy to enhance people-to-people links under the India-France partnership.

The official said it is uniquely Indian, and not to be done with other partner countries. “It means that after one year, there will be no language problem,” the official said to TOI. France's business schools, many of which provide programs available only in English, have seen an increase in enrollment of Indian students and are now the number one foreign nationality in those institutions.

The French government said it did not want to attract a large number of students, but focused more on quality. “We want to attract the best. And we want those students to come back to India,” he said, as student mobility is part of the strategic partnership.

Alongside academic opportunities, Indian graduates returning home will discover job opportunities with existing French companies already in India. There are approximately 800 companies from France in India, along with more than 500,000 Indians working for France. French officials noted that these actions were more than just admin changes but had to do with enhancing the bilateral relationship over the long term through education and mobility.