Goa Govt bans sale of land to foreigners

State Law Minister Dayanand Narvekar says, "It's a policy decision that foreigners will not be allowed to purchase land in Goa."

Amending a 100-year-old act, Goa government on Friday decided to ban the sale of land to foreigners in the state.

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"It's a policy decision that foreigners will not be allowed to purchase land in Goa. Earlier, there were no proper powers (given) to the registration authorities in Goa to check whether the Reserve Bank of India had cleared a deal," State Law Minister Dayanand Narvekar said.

Goa government has decided to bring in the legislative assembly an amendment to Section 22 of The Registration Act, 1908, which will empower the state government to ban the sale as part of public policy. The budget session of the assembly begins on March 24.

The sale of land to the foreigners had become a contentious issue in Goa with state government unearthing 400-odd cases of sale of agricultural property to foreigners.

The state government had constituted a committee, which studied all the proposals threadbare and referred 298 cases to the Union Enforcement Directorate for further action.

Officials in Panaji said that these cases had clear evidence of foreigners buying properties in Goa in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).