The government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is considering legalizing casinos.
News reports are the eastern state, located on the Bay of Bengal, has received several applications for casinos licenses centered on the state’s largest city, Visakhapatnam, also known as Vizag.
“The state government has received some applications from those who run casinos in Goa to set up units here. We are yet to take a call on it,” an unidentified cabinet minister told the Deccan Chronicle, an English-language daily.
He added, “No doubt casinos will help develop tourism in Vizag and attract foreigners, but we need to take the sentiments of the locals also into consideration before giving the go ahead,” the minister said.
Visakhapatnam, known for its pristine beaches, is often referred to as the “Goa of the East” but has failed to attract foreign tourists in the numbers enjoyed by Goa, which hosts five casino cruise ships plying the waters off the coast of the capital of Panaji and another dozen or so gambling venues in tourist hotels in and around the city.
The state also is eyeing the tax potential, which in Goa’s case amounts to around 1 billion rupees a year (US$16 million), according to the Chronicle report, a healthy portion derived from spending by residents of Andhra Pradesh, the newspaper said.
Goa is one of only three jurisdictions in India that regulate casino gaming. The others are the state of Sikkim in the northeast near Nepal and the territory of Daman, which lies north of Goa on the Arabian Sea. Goa is the largest by far, accounting for an estimated 95 percent of the legal industry’s revenues.
