Jean-Louis Rysto

Calcutta’s French connection is set to grow stronger in the New Year, with a full-fledged Schengen visa section in the new mission premises, a new building to house the cultural wing, and a rejuvenation of Chandernagore.

The full consulate office of France in the city, revived two years ago at the insistence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is relocating to its new campus at the erstwhile Raja Santosh Palace in Alipore and is set for a window-dressing opening on December 5.

“We hope to move in by early January and start with our visa section in full swing latest by February. We will have the capacity to deliver up to 6,000 Schengen visas a year,” the French consul-general in Calcutta, Jean-Louis Rysto, who now works from a temporary office at Tivoli Court, told Metro on Wednesday.

The office of the German consulate-general at 1 Hastings Park Road is now the only European mission office in Calcutta fully equipped to issue Schengen visas, while the Italian consulate issues visas in select cases. The French embassy in Delhi processes around 3,000 applications from the city annually.

A Schengen visa allows the holder to travel freely within the 25 Schengen zone member states.

Valerie Pecresse, the French minister for higher education and research, accompanying Sarkozy on his four-day visit to India from December 4, will be in Calcutta this Sunday to inaugurate the new campus of the French mission.

“We chose a heritage building for our consulate since we feel it’s the duty of France to actively participate in Calcutta’s restoration process,” Rysto explained.

The French cultural centre in the city, Alliance Française du Bengale, is also expected to get a new address on Ballygunge Circular Road near the BSF quarters. It now functions out of 217 AJC Bose Road.

The French mission is also working on a blueprint with the embassy in Delhi to beautify its erstwhile colony Chandernagore.

“We want to upgrade French language courses in Chandernagore, revitalise the French institute and turn an old palace into a boutique hotel,” said Rysto.

Plans are also afoot to restore the Christian cemetery in association with the British and also set up a floating French-style restaurant on the Hooghly on an old sailboat.

On the occasion of the Year of France in Chandernagore in 2011, a sound-and-light grid show is being planned with fireworks on the river, marrying French savoir-faire with traditional local illumination expertise. “We would like to do this spectacular show on the eve of the Jagadhatri Puja,” the diplomat added.

“This could be a much-welcome energiser for the local tourism industry, which is starved of locales that attract overseas traffic,” pointed out Anil Punjabi, chairman (east) of the Travel Agents’ Federation of India.