Goa Government Grants Another Six-Month Extension to Offshore Casinos in Mandovi

The state government of Goa has granted another six-month extension to the offshore casinos to operate in the River Mandovi. The Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and his state cabinet gave the clearance on Wednesday. This latest extension is effective from October 1, 2020, and will remain valid till March 31, 2021.

This is just one of the numerous extensions granted by the government to the casinos, given their failure to identify a suitable alternate location for their relocation.

The extension comes at a time when the Goa casino industry is experiencing challenging times. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only impacted the tourism industry in Goa but has resulted in an over six-month-long closure of business for casinos that have been shut since late March.

Compounding the sector’s concerns is the Panaji Mayor’s firm stance against renewing the casino trade licenses. “The CCP has decided not to renew the trade license of the offshore casinos. The licenses were due for renewal after March 31,” Panjim Mayor Uday Madkaikar has been quoted saying.

Extension – Not a Long-Term Solution

There are six offshore casinos currently operational on River Mandovi. Amidst rising local opposition, the BJP-led state government had made a policy decision in 2013 to shift the casinos from the River Mandovi to a suitable alternate location.

The captain of ports with the home department had identified four potential sites for the relocation. Still, all of them were found to be “technically not feasible” and some proposals met with protests from locals and village panchayats in the region.

The government has also pitched a long-term plan to shift the casinos to land at the Mopa Airport complex in the long-awaited Casino Policy. Still, given that the policy has been in the talks for years without ever being released, this plan will likely take several years or even longer to materialize.

However, permission to operate from Mandovi is not the only concern hounding the casino operators. The Panaji Mayor Uday Madkaikar has clarified that the Commissioner of the City of Panaji (CCP) has no intention to backtrack its plans of not renewing the offshore casinos’ trade licenses lapsing next year.

For the casino industry that has been shut for over six months, this extension is, at best, a small relief.