Panaji: The State Legislative Assembly passed the Goa Ease of Doing Business (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, 2026, (EoDB Bill) by voice vote on Wednesday, amid strong resistance from Opposition MLAs.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant introduced the legislation, which will take effect upon notification in the official gazette.
The extensive bill introduces significant changes to five separate regulations: Goa Court-Fees Act, 2024; Goa Industrial Development Act, 1965; Goa Right of Citizens to Time-Bound Delivery of Services Act, 2013; Goa Shops and Establishments (Registration of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2025; and The Goa Town and Country Planning Act, 1974. The bill aims to reduce the compliance burden and promote deregulation to foster trust-based governance.
It also aims to improve ease of living and facilitate investment-led economic growth.
Opposition MLAs present in the House – including Congress members Yuri Alemao, Carlos Ferreira and Altone D’Costa, alongside Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, RGP MLA Viresh Borkar and AAP MLA Venzy Veigas – strongly criticised the bill. They specifically targeted an amendment to the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) Act that authorises the granting of freehold rights for plots and premises in industrial estates upon payment of a premium by leaseholders.
Alemao argued that the bill transfers public industrial land to private entities, allows longer working hours and removes critical worker welfare provisions, stating that it “promotes ease in reducing the dignity and welfare of labour”.
Sardesai labelled the GIDC amendments a scam, demanding the formula for calculating the freehold premium and questioning why public land is being converted into private property.
Ferreira alleged that GIDC had already granted freehold land to a project in the Verna industrial estate prior to the legislation, asserting that the bill has little to do with ease of doing business.
Borkar raised concerns over the addition of sub-section 37B to the GIDC Act, warning that it grants excessive control over project approvals to a single entity, the Industrial Planning and Developing Committee.
Defending the legislation, Sawant said that the bill replaces archaic laws with futuristic reforms designed to attract foreign direct investment and support next-generation entrepreneurs.
