She said the Government will also come out with an intellectual property rights (IPR) policy soon.

In the wake of US companies raising issues with India's intellectual property rights (IPR) regime, the Modi Government has decided to come out with a policy framework on it by early 2015. It has also at the same time decided to disallow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in New Delhi on Monday.

“We are clear that FDI will not be allowed in multi-brand retail trade in line with the position the BJP had articulated in its manifesto on the basis of which we won the elections,” she said. She was addressing a press conference on the steps the Modi government took in its first 100 days.

She, however, added that at the moment there was no move to reverse the notification that the UPA government had issued to open up the multi-brand retail sector, allowing up to 51 per cent FDI. If a FDI proposal comes up the Government would do so, she said.

On its IPR policy plans, the Minister said: “India does not have an IPR policy. This is the first time the Government will come out with an IPR policy… Developed nations are picking holes in India’s IPR regime because we do not have any policy”. She also said that the Ministry is setting up a think-tank that will enable it to handle the IPR issues more firmly.

“India has a well established legal framework for IPR but it is important to spell out policy,” Industry Secretary Amitabh Kant said adding that in August the Union Cabinet had given its approval to 1,033 additional staff for India’s Patent Office so that pending applications can be cleared in a crash course.

In the last three years, India’s IPR regime has run in to severe criticism from the Obama administration. India has, however, maintained that its IPR regime is fully compliant with WTO norms and refused to participate in any unilateral investigations by the US on the matter.