Maran's predecessor Sikander Bakht was known to be in favour of allowing unbridled entry to foreign companies and wanted to change the policy. His stance had evoked opposition from the domestic industry.

Maran told reporters that the guidelines for setting up wholly-owned subsidiaries by multinationals are very clear. They will have to submit an NOC from existing joint-venture partners. "It is very essential, otherwise, Indian stake holders will be adversely affected," he said.

Maran's stand on the NOC issue is bound to cheer up apex industry chambers Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which spearheaded the campaign against Bakht's move.

Asked whether the Government would review the decision to allow Pfizer Inc to set up a 100 per cent subsidiary despite having a listed company in India, Maran said he will look into the matter. He, however, added that Pfizer's case was different as it did not have a joint venture in India.

Maran recalled that in his last stint as industry minister, he had asked BAT to get a board resolution from ITC for setting up 100 per cent subsidiary in India.

On Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), he said even if the board was abolished its functions would have to be carried out by some other agency.He said his main thrust would be to usher in next phase of reforms. "Successful implementation of the first generation reforms has paved way for next wave of reforms," he said.

Maran said the main priority of the Government would be to increase the realisation rate of foreign-direct investment from present 30 per cent.He said the Government would enlarge the automatic route list for foreign investment to achieve the FDI inflow target of $10 billion annually.Asked whether the target was realistic, Maran said, "If China can attract 35-40 billion dollars annually, I see no reason why India cannot attract $10 billion."