London: The Government will raise the sectoral caps on foreign direct investment (FDI) and bring in legislation on special economic zones in a bid to boost foreign investment to $ 10-15 billion annually, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has said.

"I also aim to propose laws protecting intellectual property rights and data privacy, to increase India's appeal as an offshore outsourcing center," he told a group of British journalists.

He said his Government will continue the policy of cutting industrial tariffs but there would be no rapid liberalisation of agricultural imports.

His comments appeared designed to reassure international investors that the new Government is as strongly committed to reforming and opening the Indian economy as was the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition.

The Minister wanted to encourage foreign Greenfield investments rather than mergers and takeovers, which he said accounted for more than half of recent foreign direct investment in India and created no new economic activity.