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The Goa administration has introduced new revenue measures by requiring that village-community landholdings known as comunidades execute conveyance deeds at half the state's minimum land rate and pay stamp duty based on the rate fixed by the Goa Housing Board (GHB). Previously these plots often bypassed formal procedures and state revenue. The reform is part of a wider regulatory overhaul that also includes regularising unauthorised homes on government or comunidade land and opening up comunidade acreage for structured development under competitive bidding.
The government has mandated that when a comunidade sells a plot, the deed must be executed at 50 % of the government-notified minimum land rate, and the stamp duty will be computed on the GHB-determined rate rather than an internally set rate by the comunidade. Historically, comunidades collected long-lease ground rent (foro) while the state received little in tax or duty; this measure addresses that imbalance. Simultaneously, recent rules allow comunidades to partner with private developers: large tracts may be tendered out, with the comunidade retaining up to 50 % of the developed plots and reserving 20 % for its village shareholder members (gaonkars) and jonoeiros. Advertisement
The reforms also tie into amendments to the Goa Land Revenue Code (Amendment) Act, 2025 which introduced a new Section 38A to regularise dwellings built before a specified cutoff on government or comunidade land, subject to conditions like 15 years' residence and area limits up to 400 sq metres. Transfers are restricted for 20 years except gifts to immediate family. As a result, tenure insecurity for longstanding occupants is being addressed while speculative misuse of community lands is being curbed. For stakeholders in Goa's real estate sector this signals a shift towards greater transparency, monetisation of traditional land-bodies, and stricter compliance.
By bringing comunidade land sales into the official revenue framework, the Goa government is effecting more than a fiscal change - it is redefining the relationship between centuries-old land-holding institutions and the modern state.
5th Jun, 2025
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