Puducherry CM Planning Offshore Casino and Ship to Chennai in a Bid to Promote Tourism

V Narayanasamy
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  • PG News July 8, 2016
  • 2 Minutes Read

Displaying visionary thinking, V Narayanasamy (cover image), Chief Minister, Puducherry revealed plans to make the Union Territory (UT) an attractive tourist destination, by launching an offshore casino and a shipping channel to Chennai. Narayansamy discussed the proposals in an in-depth interview to R. Bhagwan Singh, Executive Editor and E.T.B. Sivapriyan, Political Editor of the Deccan Chronicle.

Puducherry, also known as Pondicherry lies on the south-eastern borders of Tamil Nadu and has long been a widely visited tourist spot for its French inheritance and the famed Aurobindo ashram. The UT has lush beaches and an environment very similar to old Goa. However, in recent years, neglect and the rise of criminal elements has caused the UT to suffer in terms of state revenues, as well as in a decline of visitors.

Touching upon these points, Narayansamy admitted that the major problem was a paucity of funds. He added that focus on developing the tourism and an IT industry would be the top agenda for his government. Speaking on this Narayansamy said that “Tourism is a big focus area for my government and we plan to have theme park, water sports and we will also explore the possibility of setting up an off shore casino like in Goa. We are also planning to encourage beach resorts along the coastline.”

Narayansamy also said that the UT would be exploring “a vessel service between Puducherry and Chennai” and stated that “We can have entertainment facilities on the ship.”

Making travel to Puducherry easier, the government is also planning on expanding the current airport and reviving flights to Bengaluru, Mysore, Coimbatore and Kochi, besides services to Singapore in the pipeline.

Currently, Puducherry is ruled by the Pondicherry Gaming Act, 1965, which strictly bans all gaming and gaming operations as illegal, while giving authorities full power to enforce this law with legal penalties.

Interestingly, the act does not include games of skill or lotteries, and its Section 10 states – “Nothing in sections 4 to 9 of this Act shall be held to apply to games of mere skill wherever played.”

Sections 4 and 9 refer to the power granted to authorities to raid places of gaming and confiscation of any instruments of gaming once convicted.

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