The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) has called for the state’s casino licenses to be put up for auction rather than issued directly to offshore casino operators.
Responding to comments earlier in the week by Goa’s Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai detailing the possibility of creating a Goa Strip of casinos along the Panaji coastline, GPCC President Girish Chodankar stated that any onshore casino licenses issued to operators should be done so via auction.
“The license should be auctioned, because that is the policy adopted across the country,” he said according to local media reports.
“Coal blocks, mining leases, 2G spectrum is auctioned so why not auction casino licenses too?”
The Goan government is expected to introduce a new bill in the coming months aimed at moving the state’s offshore casino operators onto land by creating a designated zone where gambling activities would be permitted. It has been suggested that existing offshore operators, which include India’s biggest gaming company Delta Corp, would be offered 15-year casino licenses.
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