France and Eurocopter to start training school in India for chopper pilots

New Delhi: France said Wednesday that it is planning to set up an aviation training school, along with helicopter manufacturer, Eurocopter, to train chopper pilots in India as part of its overall effort to seek technical and business partnership with this country in the field of transport.

"There is a huge shortage of helicopter pilots in India. We have started a dialogue for setting up a training school for such pilots. In the next few days we would be looking at concretising the plans," French minister of state for transport, Dominique Bussereau, currently on a two-day visit to India, informed the media.

Bussereau confirmed that he had spoken to civil aviation minister, Paful Patel, in this regard.

As for other initiatives, the minister confirmed that French power equipment maker, and global giant,  Alstom, would bid for a tender to supply 1,000 electrical locomotives to this country. He said the locomotives would be manufactured in India if Alstom should win the bid.

Meanwhile, French Railways has renewed an agreement with Indian Railways, first signed in 2004, for technical cooperation in the areas of safety, maintenance and up-gradation of tracks and structures, signaling, telecommunications, power supply, electric and diesel traction stock, information technology, training and high speed rail projects.

"We can help India with our technical expertise in infrastructure areas and provide training, especially to the Railways," Bussereau said.  The expertise would also imparted in the field of airport modernisation and port development, he said.