Gaming | Legislator against growth of Goa’s casino industry

A congress legislator in the Indian state of Goa claimed Wednesday that Goa is the third-largest casino destination in the world, just behind Las Vegas and Macau.
Speaking during a debate on budgetary demands, opposition legislator Pandurang Madkaikar noted that Goa has witnessed rapid growth in its casino industry.
“Goa is the third largest destination for casinos in the world. The same dealers in Las Vegas and Macau [have] invested in casinos in Goa,” Madkaikar said.
The territory currently has five operational offshore casinos and nine onshore casinos located in five-star hotels, which are said to attract hundreds of thousands of gamblers to the state annually, The Pioneer reported.
However, Goa’s casinos only offer a combined total of some 400 gaming tables and 200 slot machines. In the Philippines, where the gaming industry is also growing, Kazuo Okada, Universal Entertainment Corporation chairman and former Steve Wynn partner, is scheduled to open a 500-gambling table casino resort in Manila in November, which will cost USD4 billion.
“The chief minister should go to Las Vegas and Macau. Macau also has large casinos and is dominated by the casino lobby. The identity of Macau is finished. It is ruled by the casino mafia,” Madkaikar added.
The legislator was alarmed when Jaydev Mody, who runs India’s largest casino operator Delta Corp, bought a 65 percent stake in the Indian Super League franchise FC Goa. Madkaikar stated that since Mody had already taken over FC Goa, casino owners could soon exert a strong influence over the territory.
“Tomorrow they will take over Goa. Jaydev Mody will decide who will be a minister and a chief minister. In 10 years, casinos will take over Goa and all of us,” Madkaikar said.
Meanwhile, chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar wrote to the state’s Legislative Assembly that there has been no rise in criminal activity related to casinos.
Parsekar delivered a written reply to address a query on the impact of its five floating casinos and 11 land-based casinos, noting that “no such complaints have been received by the home department.”