TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: The Government has constituted committees in both districts to process the pending and future applications by foreigners, PIOs or OCIs for purchase or sale of property, as all of them come under FEMA 1999.
The committees ~ one for North and the other for South will be headed by the state Registrar and include the respective district registrars, as Member secretary as also, Under Secretary (Revenue), Under Secretary (Debt), Dy Collectors, North and South, RBI official, Under Secretary (Legal) as members.
It may be recalled that the Enforcement Directorate was reportedly investigating 45 cases of alleged FEMA violations. The allegations first surfaced in 2008 and the ED had served show cause notices to six out of 482 cases properties purchased by foreigners in Goa that were investigated for FEMA violations.
According to FEMA, a foreigner can buy land in India only if he has a business visa and lived in the country for 182 days at a stretch in the previous financial year.
Data shows that after the Foreign Exchange Management Act came in force in 1999, nearly 500 foreigners, mostly British and Russians, bought property in Goa and with most floating companies with locals. These projects get 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) for property purchases.
