India is Regarded as the Next Big Gambling Destination

Asia already is the fastest growing continent, when it comes to gambling business. Casinos are booming in almost every corner: from Macau to Philippines, from Singapore to Malaysia. India could become another important gaming destination in the upcoming years.

A Mumbai-based casino developer, Jaydev Mody, told online gambling news in India: “They all want to enter the Indian market. This is evident in the fact that business in Las Vegas is dipping and Macau today is the biggest casino destination in terms of top line.”

Currently, Indian gambling laws allow casino business in the provinces of Goa and Sikkim. And gambling establishments started to pop up in the popular tourist destinations. Casino revenue in Sikkim enjoyed a 50 percent increase since 2008. Caesars Entertainment decided to increase its presence in the country, through opening gaming premises under the hotel brand.

Casino industry is just a small part in the big Indian gambling pie of the future. Sports betting is huge with Indian population, primarily due to the high popularity of cricket in the country. However the Indian government lags behind on regulating and taxing the sports betting, an industry which is estimated to be worth £1 billion.

Same lack of regulation concerns the internet gambling as well. Currently no licenses for operating online sportsbooks or online casinos in India are handed out. This fact makes the government miss out on millions and millions of taxes, which could be collected if the proper gambling laws were introduced.

Sikkim Super Lotto remains the only legal online gambling establishment in India. Punters in search of online casinos, sportsbooks, bingo and poker have to turn to foreign based operators to satisfy their online gambling needs.