Choose France Tour 2026: Indian enrolment up 17% to 9,100; Bengaluru next

The Choose France Tour 2026, a travelling education fair run by Campus France, the French government's agency for promoting higher education abroad, held its New Delhi edition on Thursday, October 15, 2026, and drew strong turnout from Indian students weighing a degree in France. More than 50 French universities, engineering schools, business schools and design institutes are taking part in the four-city tour, which began in Mumbai on October 11, moved to Pune on October 13 and New Delhi on October 15, and ends in Bengaluru on Saturday, October 17. According to Campus France figures cited at the event, the number of Indian students enrolled in French higher education rose 17% to 9,100 in 2024-25. France's Deputy Ambassador to India, Lisa Amon, said welcoming Indian students is a priority under the India-France strategic partnership, which aims to host 30,000 Indian students in France by 2030.

For Indian students, the usual study-abroad map has long been dominated by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. In recent years, several of those destinations have tightened visa rules, raised costs or cut post-study work options, and families are looking more seriously at continental Europe. France is pitching itself directly at this audience, and the Choose France Tour is its most visible recruitment drive in India.

The biggest worry for many Indian applicants is language. The answer French officials are giving is that a student does not need to speak French to study there: with nearly 2,000 programmes taught in English, especially at master's level in business, engineering and data-related fields, a student can enrol in English and learn French along the way. That can also make a graduate more employable in Europe afterwards.

Lisa Amon linked the rising numbers to closer relations between the two governments, more contact between institutions and wider awareness of what France offers. She said academic exchange should run both ways, and that institutions and diplomatic missions in both countries are working to send more French students to India too.

The 30,000 target is still a long way off. At 9,100 students in 2024-25, France would need to more than triple its Indian intake in five years. Fairs such as this one, where students can speak directly to admissions staff, are part of how it hopes to close that gap.

Short-term: Students in and around Bengaluru have one more chance to meet French institutions in person on October 17. Those planning to start a course in autumn 2027 can use these conversations to shortlist programmes, understand fees and scholarships, and check application deadlines, many of which fall in the first months of the year.

Long-term: If France keeps growing its Indian intake, it could become one of the main non-English-speaking destinations for Indian students, especially in engineering, management, design and research. That would widen choices for families, spread Indian talent across more European job markets and deepen academic links between the two countries.

Who is affected: Indian undergraduates and graduates considering a master's or other degree abroad, their parents, Indian universities seeking partnerships with French institutions, education counsellors, and French universities competing for international students.

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