Panaji, Jan 2 (IANS) Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar Friday said the government was not in favour of stopping the operations of five existing casinos "in one go".
Addressing a press conference, Parsekar said offshore casinos were generating considerable income for the Goa government but added that no new casinos would be granted permission.
"Their business is going on. They were permitted... It was because of permissions maybe of the earlier government that they are functioning there. Bucking such a set business may end up in someone going to court," Parsekar said.
Goa has five operational offshore casinos and about 10 five-star hotel operated onshore casinos which attract hundreds of thousands of gamblers to the state annually.
The BJP, which had been opposing casinos for years before the 2012 assembly election, had promised in its election manifesto to do away with the casinos in Mandovi river off Panaji.
However, after coming to power, the party insisted that it would relocate the casinos to deeper seas off Goa after four years by 2016.
Parsekar has claimed on more than one occasion that doing away with casinos may not be such a good idea at all and his BJP-led coalition government was open to renewal of licences. The chief minister however said his government would not allow new casinos in Goa.
"We will not allow news casinos. And those which are there since the Congress regime and from where there is considerable revenue coming in, we will have to think about closing them in one go," Parsekar said.
Meanwhile, the casino lobby here has welcomed Parsekar's statement.
Minutes after Parsekar's statement, Shrinivas Nayak, director of Pride Group of Casinos and Hotels and a vocal advocate of the casino lobby in Goa, welcomed the government's stand.
"This will not only provide stability to the industry but also encourage investors for more investments in Goa in tourism and other sectors," Nayak said in a statement issued here.
Goa attracts nearly three million tourists every year, with casinos accounting for a sizeable percentage of the footfalls.
Google Pixel 6a: Phone Price and Specifications Revealed! Will launch this month
Google Pixel 6a Price: Google's new phone Google Pixel 6a is expected to be launched in India by
President greets nation on eve of International Women's Day
New Delhi, March 7 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee extended his greetings to women on Saturday
Flipkart, the flagship company of the e-commerce sector, has brought 'voice assistants' technolog
Udaipur Files: Delhi High Court refuses to ban 'Udaipur Files', film will be released today
The film 'Udaipur Files' has been in controversy since the beginning. This film was to be release
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to America. Here he discussed trade, defense,
The issue of Tawang will echo in the winter session of the Parliament on Wednesday as well. Prime
Modi's modernity vs saffron orthodoxy (Comment)
Historian Ayesha Jalal has writen in her latest book, "The Struggle for Pakistan", that "at the
GDP: Growth rate revised to 9.1 percent for 2021-22, to grow at 7% in 2022-23
The government has revised the economic growth rate for the year 2021-22 from 8.7 percent to 9.1
The Income Tax Department's raids continue for the third consecutive day at six locations includi
Christian colony students file PIL against police, goons
New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Cou
