Responding to questions from opposition MLAs, Parrikar said his government was formulating a new gaming policy that would eliminate language referring to casino "vessels,” thus ensuring that the floating casinos "will cease to exist.”
Furthermore, Parrikar stated that the new policy would impose a hard cap on the number of existing floating casinos at five. A sixth casino, the MV Lucky
Efforts are still being made to dislodge the ship from the sandbar on which it’s resting, but Parrikar said the ship will "never enter the Mandovi.” Parrikar said the sixth casino "can go somewhere else and can operate only if people of the area don’t have a problem.”
Regardless, in three years time, all floating casinos will have to move onshore, and Parrikar said KPMG consultants had been tasked with identifying the future home of this new entertainment zone. The government plans to amend the 2012 Prevention of Gambling Act to ensure local residents will be prohibited from entering the entertainment zone’s gaming venues. Parrikar noted that he’d spearheaded a ban on locals in casinos but "the legislation never came into force.”
In addition to the five floating casinos, there are nine land-based venues in the state, most of which operate out of luxury hotels that cater to out-of-state tourists. In a written reply to the legislative assembly last week, Parrikar defended the gaming industry as having boosted government tax coffers and the local economy while having no negative impact on local crime rates.
