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Goa's town-planning authorities have decided to extend their digital Building Plan Approval Management System (BPAMS) to cover small residential projects comprising up to four apartments. The change, coming into effect earlier this week, shifts such projects from manual scrutiny to mandatory online submission, including applications for technical clearances and completion orders. Larger residential and commercial developments will continue under the offline regime. Officials indicated that the move is intended to reduce delays, improve transparency and streamline workflows, marking another step forward from the system's earlier rollout for single-dwelling homes.
Goa's Town and Country Planning Department (TCP) has expanded its digital approval mechanism by making it compulsory for developers, architects and engineers to submit building plans for projects containing up to four apartments through the Building Plan Approval Management System. This requirement, which came into effect earlier this week, covers both the initial technical clearance and the final completion order, provided the construction adheres to the digitally approved plan. Advertisement
Officials mentioned that this shift aims to reduce bureaucratic delays and improve ease of doing business in the state's construction sector. They explained that the online route will now be the only valid submission method for such small residential developments, replacing the earlier option of submitting plans physically at selected offices.
While digital filing is now mandatory for these smaller projects, larger residential and commercial proposals will continue to be processed manually. Officials said this is because complex and high-density developments require elaborate scrutiny, which the department is not yet ready to shift to a fully automated framework.
The department has been gradually expanding the online system since its initial rollout several years ago, when it first covered single-dwelling houses under a pilot phase. Since then, BPAMS has been upgraded in stages to accommodate more categories of applicants, although officials noted that some internal resistance still exists, particularly from those who favour traditional processing for more involved development proposals.
According to planners, the state intends to reduce interface-related delays, standardise documentation and create a traceable, transparent workflow that limits subjectivity in the approval process. They also indicated that extending BPAMS to all construction categories remains a long-term goal, depending on the system's capacity and feedback from stakeholders.
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