The ministry said the new force would be under the control of the Central Reserve Police Force, an elite paramilitary force. According to an Interior Ministry official, the government made the decision following a sharp increase in Maoist-related violence in the country.

The official, who declined to be quoted, said the proposal is awaiting final approval from the interior minister.

The new force would comprise 10 battalions (10,000 personnel) and would be set up on the pattern of the Greyhounds of the Andhra Pradesh police, The Economic Times reported Thursday.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing state chief ministers, called left-wing extremism a virus and the single biggest threat to internal security. He asked all states to set up specialized units to counter Maoist activities in the country on the pattern of the Greyhounds.

Maoists in India are called Naxalites, as their armed fight began in Naxalbari, a region of West Bengal, in the 1970s.