1. New Delhi State Visit of President of French Republic - February 2013
European Roundtable on Public-Private Partnerships in Research
and Innovation - Building on synergies between France-India and
EU-India cooperation
From Left: Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary of the Department of Science & Technology, Mrs. Geneviève
Fioraso, the French Minister of Higher Education and Research, Mr. Vinod Verma, President of the
European Business Group, EBG, Mr. João Cravinho, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the
European Union to India, Mr. Bertrand Collomb, Co-chair of Indo-French CEOs Forum & President
d’honneur of Lafarge, Mr. Dhruv Sawhney, Co-chair of Indo-French CEOs Forum & CMD Triveni
Engineering. Mr Sam Pitroda, PM adviser on innovation joined the round table via Videoconference
from Chicago
On the occasion of the State visit to India of President of the French Republic, Mrs.
Geneviève Fioraso, the French Minister of Higher Education and Research, participated in
the Indo-European Round Table on Public-Private Partnerships in Research and
Innovation organized jointly by the French Embassy and the European Union Delegation
to India at New Delhi on 14th February 2013. The round table participants represented
both the public and the private sectors. Mr. Pitroda delivered the opening remarks,
stressing the need to focus more on inclusive innovation aimed at creating affordable,
scalable and sustainable solutions– and to build on existing synergies in France-India and
EU-India cooperation. Mrs. Fioraso discussed the French position in Indo-European
cooperation in research and development and the importance of working together to
increase public-private partnerships towards inclusive innovation. France is strongly
involved in EU-India cooperation with more than 100 groups involved in Indo-European
research projects and about 22 projects coordinated by France. The round table
discussion touched upon how frugal innovation may be particularly pertinent for
Europe where austerity and budgetary constraints are the new operating system for both
the public and private innovation stakeholders. Frugality is becoming our new framework,
and India is showing the way. Input optimization, output maximization is not only of
significance for India, but for Europe too. It was also conveyed that the PPP models
should include ‘People’ partnerships and participation to have inclusive growth.