Panaji: In a major reform, the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (Goa-IDC) is working on amendments to allow the conversion of industrial land from leasehold to outright ownership. The Goa-IDC board, which met on Friday, is also considering easing rules for the transfer, sub-lease, subdivision and amalgamation of industrial plots.The proposed changes are part of the Centre’s Compliance Reduction and Deregulation Initiative under the Viksit Bharat 2047 reform agenda. Under Phase II of the initiative, the deregulation task force identified industrial land use as a priority area and recommended liberalising leasehold-to-freehold conversion while replacing prior approval for transfers and plot subdivisions with a simpler system of intimation.According to a note placed before the Goa-IDC board, the corporation informed the task force that most recommendations had already been implemented through its 2023 Allotment, Transfer and Sub-Lease Regulations. However, it cautioned that further liberalisation could affect planned industrial development and weaken its oversight of public land.Following the review, industries minister Mauvin Godinho directed Goa-IDC to align with the Centre’s reforms while safeguarding its long-term institutional and financial interests, officials said.Goa-IDC studied industrial land policies in West Bengal, Delhi, Punjab and Karnataka before drafting its model. At present, it allots industrial land to MSMEs on a 95-year lease, after which the terms are revised under its reversionary rights.Under the proposed framework, allottees seeking freehold conversion will have to extinguish Goa-IDC’s reversionary rights by paying an upfront “freehold premium”, calculated as the aggregate lease rent payable from the date of application until the expiry of the original 95-year lease term, along with any outstanding dues.A Goa-IDC board member said the proceeds would be placed in a corpus fund whose principal “shall remain permanently preserved” and cannot be used for operational expenditure. Goa-IDC will be permitted to use only the interest earned from the fund under a policy approved by the board.The reforms will require amendments to the Goa Industrial Development Act, 1965, through an ordinance, along with changes to the 2023 Regulations, subject to state govt approval.
