Delta Corp Gets Approval For Setting Up Integrated Resort at Pernem in Goa, Stock Price Surges Over 5%

On Saturday, December 12, Delta Corp announced that it had received in-principle approval from the Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board for setting up an integrated resort at Pernem in Goa. The resort will include hotels, convention centers, multiplex cinema, retail area, electronic casino, water park, and other facilities.

“The integrated resort is expected to be one of its kind in the country. The project is expected to boost tourism, employment, and infrastructure of the state of Goa,” the company said in a statement.

Being the only BSE listed company in India involved in the casino and gaming industry, it operates six casinos in Goa, Sikkim, and Nepal.

Delta Corp, present runs the Deltin Royale, Deltin JAQK, and Deltin Caravela in Goa and has the right to operate and manage the casino on the first cruise vessel of the Jalesh Cruises. It also operates a casino at Deltin Denzong in Sikkim and in January, this year, acquired a license for operating a casino in the Marriott resort in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The company has been fighting to establish its presence in the Daman and Diu as well. In fact, the company had launched The Deltin – which was to be India’s largest integrated casino resort in the Union Territory. After waiting for a license for almost two years, Daman Hospitality Private Limited, a subsidiary of Delta, submitted a writ petition in the Bombay High Court on December 31, 2018. The company asked the court to direct the Union Territory administration to grant it a casino license under Section 13A of the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976.

Delta Corp has an equally formidable digital presence. It had acquired Gaussian Networks Pvt. Ltd., the parent company of online poker site Adda52, in 2016 to establish itself as a market leader in the domestic online poker industry.

This is a big step forward for the Goa government’s plans to set up a separate land-based resort near the proposed airport project in Mopa. The idea was first tabled in December 2017, where the government had made its intention public to come out with a policy to shift all offshore casinos operating from river Mandovi onshore within four years.

In July 2019, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant reiterated that the casinos would be relocated to Goa’s second airport in Mopa. The airport would have an integrated zone housing casino and wellness, eco, and adventure resorts, Sawant had said. He had also stated that around 232 acres of land had been earmarked for commercial development at the airport in North Goa. It all like the government is following through on those plans.

The news of Delta Corp receiving the in-principal approval for setting up the integrated resort was well received by investors. While the story was first announced on Saturday, the company stock remained bullish in the morning trade on Monday, December 14. The Delta Corp Ltd stock closed at ₹165.20 today, up by ₹8.85 or 5.53% on the BSE. The scrip opened at ₹164.40 and has touched an intra-day high of ₹166.70 and a low of ₹160.

Previously, the company had reported a net loss of ₹54.91 Crore in Q2 (September 2020) compared to a net profit of ₹59.04 Crore in Q2 September 2019.