Goa Government Grants Another Six-Month Extension to Offshore Casinos

Pramod Sawant
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  • Attreyee Khasnabis February 18, 2021
  • 2 Minutes Read

On February 17, Goa’s state government approved another six-month extension for offshore casinos operating from the Mandovi river off Panaji. The Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and his state cabinet gave the clearance on Wednesday since no concrete decision on identifying a new site could be determined.

This extension comes weeks before the previous six-month extension granted in September and, effective from October 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, reached its deadline.

Sawant is the state’s fourth successive Chief Minister after late Manohar Parrikar and Laxmikant Parsekar (both from BJP-led coalition governments) and former Congress CM Digambar Kamat, who has been unable to take a formal decision on the relocation of the six offshore casinos.

Manohar Parrikar
Manohar Parrikar

 

On Wednesday, Sawant told reporters that the six-month extension, allowing the casinos to stay put on the Mandovi river, had been cleared by the state cabinet because “till now, no decision has been taken” on their relocation. “Six-month extension to casinos has been given. (They will remain) where they are,” Sawant added.

In July 2019, Sawant had in a written reply to a question raised by BJP legislator Wilfred D’Sa in the Legislative Assembly, stated that the offshore casinos would be relocated near Goa’s second airport in Mopa. The airport will have an integrated zone that will house casinos and wellness, eco, and adventure resorts.

Wilfred D'Sa
Wilfred D’Sa

 

In December 2020, 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.

Despite these developments, the Goa government is yet to reach a consensus regarding offshore casinos’ future. Not only that, the government is yet to table its long-pending casino policy.

“Things have reached such a point that politicians from all the parties have been acclimated to the casino industry. The criticisms are just on paper. This government is continuing with the casinos because they are a great source of revenue for the party in power,” Congress spokesperson Trajano D’Mello said.

Trajano D'Mello
Trajano D’Mello

 

With the mining industry on a downswing, the casino industry — Goa has six offshore and nine onshore casinos — is one of the most powerful lobbies in the state. Casinos have been a consistent election issue for the last decade and more, with the opposition parties listing doing away with the offshore casinos as a key poll issue.

The news comes just as the casino sector is getting back on its feet. The casinos were allowed to reopen after an extended eight-month-long closure in November last year and only yesterday, the Deltin Royale poker room, operated by Delta Corp announced the DPTXpress tournament series for March – the first live tournament series since the pandemic-led lockdown.

But as the Goa government’s latest six-month extension suggests, it does not appear that the offshore casinos will be shifted out of their anchorage anytime soon.

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