Consulate General of France in Mumbai

The Consulate General of France in Mumbai is one of France's four career Consulates General in India — the country with the largest French consular network outside Europe and North Africa — located at Wockhardt Towers in the Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai's modern central business district. The post serves the western Indian states (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh) plus the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, with a sectoral focus on the substantial Franco-Indian commercial relationship anchored on Mumbai's role as India's commercial capital. Mumbai hosts the operational headquarters of several French groups in India: L'Oréal India, Dassault Aviation (the Rafale industrial cooperation), Renault-Nissan, Capgemini, Schneider Electric, Saint-Gobain, Air Liquide, Total Energies and many others. The Consulate General houses the chancery, the consular section serving French nationals across the catchment, the visa section processing Schengen and French national long-stay visas decisioned in Mumbai for applicants from the western Indian states, the Service Economique Régional (regional economic department), Business France's Mumbai operations, the Institut Français en Inde's Mumbai branch (Alliance Française Mumbai partnership), and the French Trade Commission. The post is one of the busier French diplomatic operations in Asia given the substantial Franco-Indian commercial flow, the substantial French expatriate community in Mumbai-Pune (estimated 3,000–5,000 registered French nationals), and the substantial flow of Indian students to French higher education through Campus France.

Schengen short-stay visa (Type C, up to 90 days in a 180-day rolling window) is the primary visa product for Indian travellers from the western Indian states to France. VFS Global France operates the Mumbai Visa Application Centre at Bandra-Kurla Complex (the same building cluster as the Consulate General). Applicants book online through the VFS France India portal, attend in person for biometric capture, and pay the Schengen fee plus the VFS service fee. Decisioning happens at the Consulate General in Mumbai for applicants from the western Indian catchment. For French national long-stay visas (visa de long séjour, VLS) — for study at French universities (the dominant pipeline, with several thousand Indian students per year enrolling at French grandes écoles, engineering schools and universities), employment, family reunification, entrepreneur and investor categories — applicants file through the VFS France network with biometric capture in Mumbai and the file forwarded to the Consulate General for decisioning. The Campus France India portal coordinates the student-mobility application pipeline for French higher education with specific procedural requirements (Études en France platform, pre-consular interview).

The Consular Section serves the French national community in the western Indian states — the largest concentration is the French business community in Mumbai (anchored on the major French groups' Indian operations), the French expatriate community in Pune (the automotive and IT-services cluster), the long-stay French community in Goa (residents and retirees), and the smaller Gujarat-based French business presence. The Consular Section provides French passport renewal and biometric passport issuance, Carte Nationale d'Identité issuance, civil-status notification to the Service Central de l'État Civil in Nantes (births, marriages abroad), voter registration for French parliamentary, presidential, European and municipal elections (the Consulate is a polling station), notarial certifications, apostille issuance for French documents and emergency consular assistance for French nationals in detention, hospitalisation, victims of crime, repatriation or bereavement across the western Indian catchment.

Mumbai is the commercial heart of India and the operational hub for the substantial Franco-Indian commercial relationship. Bilateral trade has grown sharply since the 2020 Indo-French Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership upgrade, anchored on Dassault Aviation's Rafale deal (36 fighter aircraft delivered 2020–2022, follow-on negotiations active), Naval Group's Scorpène submarine programme with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai, L'Oréal's substantial Indian operations, Saint-Gobain's Indian glass and construction-materials footprint, Schneider Electric, Air Liquide, Renault-Nissan in Chennai, Capgemini's substantial Indian delivery operations, and the substantial French luxury sector (LVMH, Kering, Chanel, Hermès) presence in the Mumbai-Delhi premium markets. The Service Economique Régional coordinates with Business France Mumbai, the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI) Mumbai, MEDEF International's India desk, and the substantial French aerospace-and-defence industry presence in Mumbai-Pune.

French foreign direct investment in India through the Mumbai catchment is substantial across automotive (Renault-Nissan Chennai, the broader Mumbai-Pune automotive supply chain), aerospace and defence (the substantial Rafale-related industrial cooperation through Dassault Aviation and HAL Bangalore; the Scorpène submarine programme through Naval Group and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Mumbai; Safran's Indian aerospace operations), luxury and consumer goods (LVMH, Kering, Chanel, Hermès retail expansion in Mumbai-Delhi), pharmaceuticals (Sanofi India, Servier), food and beverages (Danone, Pernod Ricard, Lactalis), industrial gases (Air Liquide), building materials (Saint-Gobain), and the substantial Indian-French IT-services partnership (Capgemini's substantial Indian operations, Atos India). Indian outbound FDI to France from the Mumbai catchment is led by the Indian IT-services majors (TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL) and the Indian pharmaceutical industry.

Business France Mumbai, the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI) Mumbai chapter, MEDEF International, and the French aerospace-and-defence industrial cluster coordinate French business engagement in western India. The Consulate General's economic section supports French exporters and investors with market intelligence, partner identification, regulatory navigation through India's GST and corporate-law environment, and support for setting up Indian subsidiaries. Indian companies looking at France-based operations are supported through Business France's Invest in France function in cooperation with the regional French development agencies.

Mumbai hosts a substantial Franco-Indian cultural programme through Alliance Française Mumbai (the largest Alliance Française in India by membership), the Institut Français en Inde's Mumbai branch, the French Film Festival Mumbai, French-design participation in Mumbai design events, and the substantial Franco-Indian academic mobility through Campus France India. The Indian student flow to French higher education — particularly to French engineering schools (École Polytechnique, École Centrale, INSA, Mines, Ponts), business schools (HEC, INSEAD, ESSEC, ESCP), and universities (Sorbonne, Sciences Po, Paris-Saclay) — is in the high thousands per year, making France one of the top European destinations for Indian engineering and management students. The Consulate General supports Bharatanatyam, Hindustani and Carnatic music performances at French cultural venues, and the substantial Indo-French film coproduction sector through Unifrance and the Indian film industry headquartered in Mumbai (Bollywood, Marathi cinema).

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, and the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The other three French CGs cover the rest of India: CG Bangalore for the southern states (Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana plus the Bureau de France in Hyderabad), CG Calcutta for the eastern and north-eastern states, CG Pondicherry for Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Schengen short-stay visa appointments are booked through the VFS Global France India portal. National long-stay visa applications are filed through the same VFS network with file forwarding to the Consulate General. Campus France student-mobility appointments are booked through the Études en France platform. Consular service appointments for French nationals are booked through the Consulate General's online booking system. Phone enquiries route through the switchboard +91 22 6669 4000 during office hours (Monday to Thursday 09:00–17:30 with lunch 13:00–14:00; Friday 09:00–17:00 with lunch 13:00–14:00). Email enquiries: admin-francais.bombay-fslt@diplomatie.gouv.fr. Out-of-hours emergencies route through the Centre de Crise et de Soutien at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris on +33 1 53 59 11 00, available 24 hours.

Wockhardt Towers East Wing is a Class-A office building in the Bandra-Kurla Complex on the eastern flank of the Mithi River, about 10 minutes by road from the Mumbai Domestic Airport at Santa Cruz and 25 to 40 minutes from Mumbai International Airport at Sahar depending on traffic. Approach by Mumbai Metro Line 3 (Aqua Line) to BKC, or directly by taxi from anywhere in the Mumbai metropolitan area. Visitors must present valid government-issued photo identification and pass building security at the Wockhardt Towers lobby. The Consulate General observes both Indian and French public holidays — France's national observances include the Fête Nationale (14 July), Easter Monday, Ascension, Whit Monday, Assumption Day, All Saints' Day, Armistice Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day, in addition to the Indian Republic Day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti and major Hindu and Muslim festivals.