Goa HC Strikes Down Zoning Provision in Planning Act

17 Mar 2025 CW Team

The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court has struck down Section 17(2) of the Goa Town and Country Planning Act, 1974, ruling that it served private landowners' interests rather than public welfare. This section, introduced in March 2023, allowed authorities to rectify zoning inconsistencies, but petitioners argued it was being misused to convert land for commercial purposes.

A division bench comprising Justices Nivedita P. Mehta and M. S. Karnik ruled that the provision undermined sustainable development and environmental concerns. The court noted that between March 2023 and January 2025, 353 approvals were granted under Section 17(2), impacting 2.654 million square meters. Most conversions involved shifting land use from paddy fields, natural cover, and no-development zones to settlement zones.

The PIL, filed by Goa Foundation, Khazan Society of Goa, and Goa Bachao Abhiyan in June 2023, challenged the constitutional validity of the provision, arguing that it granted arbitrary powers to alter zoning regulations based on private requests. The court held that such plot-by-plot conversions were effectively mutilating the Regional Plan, which serves as Goa's long-term land-use blueprint.

(The Hindu)

Real Estate

30 Jul 2026

AI: The New Recruit

From getting ideas to evaluating designs, presenting concepts to clients and tracking projects, artificial intelligence (AI) is helping architects work better and faster.“AI allows architects to spend more time doing what only they can do: think critically, synthesise complexity and design with intent,” says Dikshu C Kukreja, Managing Principal, CP Kukreja Architects. “Every minute reclaimed from repetitive processes can be invested in creativity, contextual understanding, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation – the qualities that define meaningful architecture.”To read the ..

Redevelopment 2.0

In 2017, Mumbai identified 160,000 ageing buildings due for structural audit. Close to half of these were in the Western Suburbs. Redeveloping the oldest and structurally weakest of these would help unlock new housing, much needed given the city’s growing population density and constant developed area of 437.7 sq km. At 30,600 people per sq km in 2024, Mumbai’s density was almost thrice that of Gurugram, and 60 per cent higher than Bengaluru’s.Essentially, Mumbai’s realty market has demand. It has capital. It has realty development potential.Fast forward to 2026. Mumbai has 1,094 regis..

Cost intelligence will become a strategic contributor to project success

As India's construction industry accelerates its digital transformation, integrated platforms, AI and connected data are becoming essential to improving cost certainty, project efficiency and sustainability. Ravi Kumar, Sales Director – India, RIB Software India, shares how digital workflows are reshaping project planning, commercial management and decision-making across the construction value chain.India's construction sector is embracing digital technologies at an unprecedented pace. From your perspective, what are the biggest shifts driving this transformation and how is RIB Software enab..