Panaji, Jan 25 (IANS): Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily Monday said that the central government was looking at setting up arbitration centres for commercial disputes in every metropolitan city in the country.

Speaking during a ceremony in Panaji, marked to unveil India's first international arbitration outside the national capital, Moily also made a pitch for a paradigm shift in India's approach to institutional dispute solving.

"We want to set up such centres in all metropolitan cities in the country," Moily said, adding that world class infrastructure had to be constructed to ensure that the country attracts top class clients for arbitration and reconciliation.

"We have to target both international and domestic clientele. Goa is a world class tourism centre, there's no reason why it cannot be a world class arbitration centre," Mioly said.

Praising Japan for its ability to dispose 40 percent of commercial disputes through an efficient system of settlement in court, Moily said that India should also try to follow suit.

Moily said that the plan to set up commercial benches throughout India, through a legislation, was a step in that direction.

"We need to tell the world that doing business in India does not have many hurdles. The legislation for setting up of commercial benches to handle monetary disputes had been cleared by a select committee and approved by the cabinet. It will be implemented soon," Moily said.

Commercial benches, according to Moily, would handle monetary disputes with transactions of over Rs.2 crore and were aimed at disposing each financial case within a year.