France and India have been cooperating for many years in the fields of higher education and research. IMT, France’s leading public group of engineering and management schools, has maintained close ties with several major Indian technological institutions, including IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Indore, IIT Mandi, IIT Bhilai, IIT Ropar and, since 2016, IIT Madras.
On Sunday 14 June 2026, Cécile Dubarry, IMT Executive President, and Professor Rangan Banerjee, Director of IIT Delhi, took the opportunity during their visit to the Bharat Innovates 2026 exhibition in Nice to sign the renewal of the partnership agreement between the two institutions, thereby marking the official renewal of this cooperation for the coming period.
IMT and IIT Delhi: ten years of renewed cooperation
This exchange agreement strengthens the international mobility of students and staff in both directions, whilst deepening academic and scientific cooperation through exchanges between laboratories and the development of joint research projects. Such agreements play an essential role in the training of engineers and researchers.
Since the first IMT–IIT Delhi agreement in 2016, the number of Indian students joining the IMT technological universities has continued to rise. This renewal in 2026 aims to deepen research cooperation and open up new mobility opportunities for students from both countries at a time when India is establishing itself as a global scientific and technological power.
It was also an opportunity for IMT Nord Europe to sign a new training partnership with IIT Bhilai.
Bharat Innovates 2026: a showcase for Franco-Indian innovation
The signing was formalised during the first edition of the Bharat Innovates exhibition held outside India. The event brought together more than 120 Indian start-ups and around 20 leading academic institutions as part of the Franco-Indian Year of Innovation 2026, dedicated to strengthening cooperation in artificial intelligence, health, mobility, energy and space technologies.
Announced on 17 February by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, the exhibition was opened in Nice by the French Head of State, who praised India’s rise as a major nation of innovation. Ranked third in the world for AI competitiveness according to the Stanford AI Index 2025, India now has nearly 1.5 million engineers. The event is also taking place just a few days before the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, in which India is participating as a partner nation.
Having celebrated the 25th anniversary of their strategic partnership in 2023, France and India took a further step forward in February 2026 by elevating their relationship to the status of a ‘comprehensive and special strategic partnership’. This cooperation covers, in particular, defence, space, energy, digital technology and innovation.
