An agreement between Airbus Group and Mahindra for manufacture of helicopters and three MoUs under the 'Smart City' theme were among the 16 pacts signed between India and France here today.

The Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), which cover a wide range of sectors like urban development, urban transport, water and waste treatment and solar energy, were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande, who began his three-day visit from here today.

As part of 'Make in India' initiative, an agreement was signed between Airbus Group and Mahindra to manufacture helicopters here.

From the French side, the agreement for "cooperation" to manufacture the helicopters was signed by Pieree De Bausset, President and Managing Direcor Airbus Group India, while from the Indian side, it was inked by Prakash Shukla, the Group President of Mahindra Aerospace.

Besides, three MoUs were signed under the 'Smart city' theme for city-specific urban development between French Development Agency (AFD) with the state governments for the cities of Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.

The aim of the MoUs is to provide specific technical assistance on urban development experts from the French government's programme.

Urban Development Experts from the French public sector will be based in each city, CII President Sumit Mazumder said on the occassion.

Under the MoU, expert in the fields of urban transport, water and waste treatment, solar energy, urban planning and architecture and heritage they will assist the three cities with their smart city development plans.

A joint Venture between Indian SITAC group and EDF Energie Nouvelles was signed to acquire 50 per cent stake in its renewable energy business in Gujarat.

This JV investment is worth 155 Million Euros in 2016 and would generate 142 MW power. Its objective is to produce one gigawatts wind energy in five years period. 

A letter of intent between CEA (the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and CG (Crompton Greaves) was also signed during the business summit.

Both the companies wished to explore opportunities of collaborations in Solar PV with storage function for Indian airports.

The final goal of the collaboration for CG is to set up manufacturing facilities using its infrastructure and expertise in India and technology knowhow of CEA, which is a center for technological research in new energy and storage technologies.

Another Letter of Intent was signed between CEA and Green Ventures. The CEA will work on off grid solar photovoltaic projects in the Indian rural areas with the aim to deliver tangible climate change benefits.

Besides, nine French companies signed MoUs with Engineering Projects India (EPI) Ltd, a public sector company fully owned by the government of India.

The French companies are Alstom Transport, CAN, Dassault, EDF Energies Nouvelles, Egis, Lumiplan, Pomagalski, Schneider Electric and Thales.

The MoUs between the nine companies and the EPI are in the field of new and cutting edge French technologies for smart and sustainable cities.