PORVORIM: The controversial Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation of Single Window Clearance (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which sought to strengthen the powers of the Goa IPB through a Planning, Development, and Construction Committee (PDCC), was referred to the Select Committee by the Assembly on Wednesday.
The Select Committee will be headed by Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho and will include MLAs Carlos Alvares Ferreira, Vijai Sardesai, Nilesh Cabral, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, Viresh Borkar, Ganesh Gaonkar, and Krishna Salkar as members.
The government claimed that the enhanced powers would help facilitate investment applications through Ease of Doing Business.
Opposition members raised concerns that the Bill would only permit the construction of infrastructure under the guise of investment promotion, as the committee would be able to convert land, approve plans, issue construction licences, settle land revenue code cases, and collect fees on behalf of all departments.
They alleged that it would be like a ‘State within a State’ and pointed out that the PDCC comprises only bureaucrats and no public representatives.