Thiruvananthpuram:
On his Kerala visit, French Ambassador, Mr Richier said that the French companies working in other parts of the country were interested to invest in the state in the fields of infrastructure, energy, water transport and urban development.
"French companies had an investment of more than 'euro one billion' in India. However, there was no French company in Kerala," he said.
Mr Richier would hold a meeting with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on April 15 to explore the possibility of cooperation between France and Kerala.
Asserting that concerns on Evolutionary Pressurised Reactors would be alleviated, French Ambassador Francois Richier said that his government has commissioned a Nuclear Safety Agency which was evaluating the safety aspects of such type of reactors.
"France feels that the safety concern is legitimate," he told reporters here in response to a question on the safety concerns and protest of people against the Jaitapur Nuclear Plant in Maharashtra, which France proposes to build.
The Evolutionary Pressurised Reactors (EPR) are proposed for the project.
The French government has commissioned a Nuclear Safety Agency which was evaluating the safety aspects of the EPR, which, he said, was a new generation one.
The fears and concern of the people of India on the technology would be alleviated, he said, adding that India has not yet signed any agreement with France for setting up the Nuclear Power Plant in Maharashtra.
Four Nuclear Power Stations with EPR reactors were coming up in different countries, including one in France, and would be commissioned in three to four years before the one proposed at Jaitapur becomes operational, he pointed out.
"So the people will know the safety aspects of the new generation nuclear technology very well," he added.
Answering to a question on the liability clause in case of any accident, he said that the operator was responsible and not the supplier.
Relations between Indian and France were excellent and both countries have cooperation in many fields including building submarines, missiles and launching satellites, Richier, who was on a three day visit to Kerala, said.
France wants to take to "high dimensions" its project partnership with India in space, defence, civil aviation and energy.
Cooperation between India and France in space sector was very important and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would launch two satellites for France shortly, he said.
He also visited the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.