Paris:

Paris city hall on Friday voted to increase the Eiffel Tower adult admission price by 20 percent from next month to help pay for urgent renovation work.

Visitors currently pay 29.40 euros ($31.90) for a ride by lift to the top of the Eiffel tower, a price tag that is set to rise to 35.30 euros on June 17.

The Paris city council also backed a recapitalisation for Eiffel Tower operator SETE, and lowered the annual fee it charges the operator for running one of the world’s most famous monuments.

Lower visitor numbers during the Covid pandemic combined with spiralling renovation costs have pushed SETE deep into deficit.

Staff at the Eiffel Tower went on strike earlier this year, protesting against what unions said was insufficient investment.

The Eiffel Tower booked a shortfall of around 120 million euros during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Unions argued that previous recapitalisation of 60 million euros was insufficient given the need for major maintenance work, including a fresh paint job.

The masterpiece by architect Gustave Eiffel has been repainted 19 times since it was built for the 1889 World Fair.

Eiffel recommended at the time that it should be painted every seven years to keep inevitable rust at bay.

But the 300-metre (985-feet) iron structure — 330 metres tall when the high-frequency antenna at the top is included — has not been given a full paint job since 2010.

Visitor numbers recovered to nearly six million last year, having dropped to 1.5 million in 2020 because of Covid restrictions.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) Unified Payment Interface (UPI) being formally launched at the Eiffel Tower on February 2, 2024
| Photo Credit: PTI

India on Friday formally launched UPI at the iconic Eiffel Tower here, terming it as taking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of taking UPI global.

“UPI formally launched at the iconic Eiffel Tower at the huge Republic Day Reception. Implementing PM @narendramodi’s announcement and the vision of taking UPI global,” the official X handle of India’s Embassy in France posted along with the photos of the event.

Replying to this, Mr. Modi said, “Great to see this – it marks a significant step towards taking UPI global. This is a wonderful example of encouraging digital payments and fostering stronger ties.”

Unified Payments Interface (UPI), launched in 2016, is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing and merchant payments into one hood, according to NPCI.

Incidentally, at the invitation of Prime Minister Modi, Emmanuel Macron, President of France, was the Chief Guest for the 75th Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on January 26.

“The new energy in India-France ties from a historic year in the Strategic Partnership visible at 75th Republic Day reception,” the official handle X posted and thanked the Minister Delegate in charge of Democratic Renewal, Government Spokesperson Prisca Thevenot for honouring the occasion.

It also thanked the members of Parliament, business leaders, scholars, friends of India and Indians in France.

The NPCI said in a statement that its arm NPCI International Payments (NIPL) has tied up with French e-commerce and proximity payments Lyra, which will help ensure that the UPI payment mechanism is accepted in the European country, starting with the Eiffel Tower.

At present, Indian tourists rank as the second largest group of international visitors to the Eiffel Tower, it said. Indian tourists can simply scan a QR code generated on the merchant’s website and initiate a payment.

Eiffel Tower is the first merchant to offer UPI payments in France, and the service will soon be extended to other merchants in the tourism and retail space across France and Europe.