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sify Walletwatch
Indian casino to rival Las Vegas' best? You bet!
Sunday, 09 September , 2007, 12:40
New Delhi: India's leading online gaming company is readying to launch a
casino on a luxury vessel that will be anchored in the high seas off Goa
even as it plans to ramp up its global operations.
The Rs.100 crore casino project is set for a mid-2008 launch, said Amar
Sinha, managing director of the Pan India Network Infravest that runs the
Playwin gaming brand.
"We'll be offering 20,000 sq ft of casino area that will rival the best Las
Vegas has to offer," Sinha, whose company is part of Subhash Chandra's
$1-billion Essel Group, told IANS.
"We have purchased a ship for Rs.15 crore and this is currently being fitted
out in Italy. The ship will be anchored in international waters off Goa.
High-speed motorboats will ferry gamers back and forth," he added.
Speaking about his expansion plans for Playwin, which is targeting revenues
of Rs.3000 crore ($670 million) in the current fiscal, Sinha said he hoped
to expand its global reach to Central Asia, Europe and South Africa.
"We currently have a presence in Kenya, Cambodia and the Philippines. A lot
of other opportunities are being contemplated," he added.
Pan India is also planning to open on behalf of Mumbai's Royal Western India
Turf Club some 100 off-course betting centres across Maharashtra, up from
the current eight.
This apart, the company has also acquired Ten10 Digital, a British company
that telecasts horse races, but there are no immediate plans to establish a
Ladbrokes-style betting facility for the Indian Cricket League (ICL) that
the Essel group has floated.
"We are waiting for the right time," Sinha said, indicating it could happen
sometime in the not too distant future.
That Indian punters would lap up such a facility can be gauged from the fact
that 70 per cent of the bets placed in London on cricket matches come from
this country.
Sinha also pleaded for creating greater awareness in the government about
the potential of the online lottery business to generate huge revenues for
social sector programmes.
"The challenge is to make the government understand the revenue potential of
online lotteries and of the huge revenues it is losing out due to paper
lotteries and illegal betting," he maintained.
"Online gaming will take people away from illegal lotteries as it is
completely transparent and is properly audited, in our case, by Ernst &
Young," Sinha pointed out.
The global online lottery business is estimated at around $200. The size of
the official lottery business in India is pegged at some Rs.25000crore ($6
million), of which online lotteries account for five per cent.
"The size of the illegal betting market is around Rs.25000 crore, which
means that the government is losing out on at least Rs.1000 crore in
revenues," Sinha contended.
"If the government does not act quickly, it will only promote more black
money that will fund underworld activities. The government will then have to
spend millions to control these activities," he said, suggesting a watchdog
to monitor lottery draws and ensure proper utilisation of revenues.
"Right now, FDI (foreign direct investment) is not permitted in the lottery
sector nor are investors looking at India. But if proper systems are in
place, foreign players might want to come in," Sinha maintained.
--
Pamela D'Mello
Cell 9850 461649
http://pameladmello.goa-india.org
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