The European Commission has approved a revised French government rescue plan for Alstom, the heavily indebted engineering group.

Under a deal agreed on Monday, the French government will not take a stake in the company as initially envisaged, but provide an enhanced financial package. Mario Monti, the competition commissioner, said the French authorities had acted "quickly" and "in a constructive spirit" in response to Commission concerns about the original rescue package announced by Paris last week.