New sports minister Ajay Maken being greeted after he assumed charge at his office in New Delhi

New sports minister Ajay Maken on Thursday said he has given instructions that the issue of unpaid bills of Australian companies for their work during the Commonwealth Games should be sorted out within 10 days.

"I have directed secretary sports to speak to the government nominees in the Organising Committee to thoroughly verify legitimate payments and I have given them 10 days time to sort out the issue," Maken told reporters immediately after taking charge of his new portfolio.

"It has been three months since the CWG happened. If we delay it more, then there will be more problem. I want to solve this issue within this timeframe. This is my first directive after taking charge as the sports minister," said Maken who took over from M.S. Gill, who has been shifted to Statistics and Programme Implementation in the Cabinet reshuffle Wednesday.

To India's embarrassment, Australia also raised the issue of millions of dollars owed to its firms by the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee with visiting external affairs minister S.M. Krishna, who assured that he would take it up with the sports ministry.

At least four of Australia's biggest event firms plan to slap a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against organisers of New Delhi Commonwealth Games for non-payment of outstanding dues.

The firms included those who worked for the glittering opening and closing ceremonies and behind pyrotechnics and fireworks display. The firms claimed that the total outstanding amount ran into nearly two million US dollars.

In potential trouble for the beleaguered CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi, Events organiser Ric Birch has commissioned law firm Slater and Gordon to draw up the multi-million dollar lawsuit that would involve at least four of Australia's biggest event firms--including his firm Spectak Productions and fireworks group Howard & Sons.

Birch, who was the mastermind behind the successful opening and closing ceremonies of the mega-event from October 3 to 14 last year, said that his employers have still not paid their bills.

Birch's Indian lawsuit is shaping as the first salvo in a possible $3 million-plus class action against the organisers.

"I supplied the services of 12 people over the course of the year leading up to the Games, which included choreographers, producers and myself as executive producer," he said.

"They're all production people who were intimately involved in the creation, production and direction of the opening and closing ceremonies."

Mr Krishna told a joint press conference after his meeting with Rudd that "It(dues) has been brought to my notice and I would go back to India and take it up with the Ministry of Sports."

Referring to the Australian companies involved in the matter, Rudd said these are private contractual arrangements between individual companies on one hand and a responsibility of the Commonwealth Games authority on the other.

He said the Australian government will work with the companies to assure that proper payments are made to them.

"We will work with them like any other Australian company that faces such an issue," he said.

Howard & Sons boss Andrew Howard said the combination of the unpaid money and the hold-up of the company's unique pyrotechnics firing equipment in Delhi had left the firm facing a financial crisis.