The plan has come under fire from residents and environmentalists who say it threatens the fragile coastal ecology.

"I have sent my resignation to the chief minister," Goa's Town and Country Planning Minister Atanasio Monseratte told private NDTV network late Wednesday.

The state's chief minister had not accepted the resignation yet.

Environmentalists said vast tracts of forests were being taken over to make way for hotels and commercial complexes, putting pressure on the former Portuguese colony of 1.3 million people.

The privately-run Goa Foundation, which is spearheading the environmental campaign, said Goa faced a crisis as developers forced up land prices and the tourism boom threatened the coastal ecology.

As a result of development, the state's forest cover, which was 34 percent in 2001, had shrunk to 31 percent, the foundation said.