Moreover, he said, India was a signatory to MIGA (multilateral investment guarantee agency), the double taxation avoidance agreement, as well as bilateral investment protection agreements with almost all EU countries.

Addressing the EU-India business summit in Lisbon on Tuesday, Maran said while Indian reforms were moving over to a number of sectors, they were poised to enter news areas and the process was irreversible.

"We are moving cautiously and following a sequential and gradualistic strategy to avoid pains and optimise gains. We want to avoid the pitfalls as (happens) in the case of "everything-at-once" or "reforms-at-one-leap" school of thought, Maran said.

The jury in those countries which adopted "big-bang reforms" had not yet concluded whether one should cross a chasm in one leap or whether one should drop a bridge, he added.

Outlining the series of radical reforms in India's foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, Maran said the introduction of special economic zones was designed to open massive investment opportunities and unleash new economic activity in the country.

"These are patterned on the successful zones in some other countries and would ab initio be free zones-like foreign territories-where investment would be permitted unfettered by any controls".

"As we want the infrastructure in these zones and the industrial activity to be of the highest international order, we have decided to allow 100 per cent foreign equity. This represents an area for very profitable investments", the minister stated.

He also informed the investors that foreign investments could now enter India through the automatic route which meant that foreign investors could bring in investments directly by merely informing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) within 30 days of bringing such investments.

No investor could afford to ignore India either as a manufacturing site or as a market. Maran said that India was one of the largest reservoirs of consumers and the emergence of the vital and vibrant middle class with increasing discretionary income to spend on improving the quality of life was characteristic of recent continued economic growth in the country.

The minister also underlined India's importance as an advantageous manufacturing location for the global market and a strategic launching pad for exports. "Not only our natural resources but also the adaptiveness and skill levels of our human resources give us this competitive advantage. We have a vibrant domestic entrepreneurial sector, and in particular, local suppliers with capacity to supply world-standard products to help you", he said.

India needs massive investments of the order of at least $ 200 billion in the coming five years to upgrade its infrastructure and these were the dimensions of an emerging market with attractive opportunities, Maran said.