Delta plans Goa IR if casino policy changes

Wednesday 31st of October 2018

Delta Corp., India’s only listed casino operator, plans to construct a major IR in Goa, that could include a water park, retail space and a convention center, if the government approves a policy to move the state’s floating casinos onshore, according to company Chairman Jaydev Mody.

In an interview with the Economic Times, Mody said the plans and the level of investment will be contingent on the casino policy, which he said could be a game changer for Goa’s casinos.

The government is considering legislation to move the floating casinos out of the Mandovi River to a zone, probably close to Goa’s airport, which may help to create an entertainment and gaming hub.

“It is a win-win for everybody, for the government, for the people and for the industry. It makes a lot of sense,” he told the newspaper.

Delta owns three floating casinos in Goa, a property in the northern state of Sikkim and has a license pending for a casino in a five-star resort in the Union Territory of Daman. It is also expanding into Nepal and owns online gambling brand Adda52.

Mody says the company has achieved 20 to 25 percent compound average growth over the past 10 years.

“I do not see any reason why we cannot keep growing at that pace in the future. The business is there and we will keep growing. We just have to keep innovating and keeping our product and quality of service right up there.”

Mody, however, criticized the high taxes imposed on gaming companies, saying they were “crazily taxed.’.

“If the government realises that there is a multi-billion dollar business out there in gaming -- but it is all grey market or below the radar -- and they tax it appropriately, it would all come into the organised sector and then the business can grow. It already exists. The market is there,” he told the newspaper.