Panaji, Apr 26 (IANS): Ancestral land sold by Goan expatriates could have led to Goa's real estate rush, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Friday.

Parrikar was speaking at a function in the state secretariat to launch the official website of the Goa government's Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Commission.

The chief minister said that a lot of land owned by the expatriates was encroached or fraudulently sold by politicians and conmen, which had forced these NRIs to sell off their ancestral properties, instead of managing them.

"Perhaps we can keep off the rush of big builders," Parrikar said, suggesting that the website for NRIs should also contain links to the Goa government's revenue department interactive portal, which offers GPS enabled images as well as property details at the click of a button.

"At least they can keep track of their properties that way and make sure there are no forged entries or encroachment," Parrikar said.

With land resources scarce, real estate in Goa is sold at a premium and instances of properties being illegally occupied by anti-social elements with political clout are not rare.