Casinos to stay, with a revenue of Rs 40 crore
GOANEWS & PTI, PANAJI | 26 March 2012 23:27 IST
Entry at the off-shore casinos of Goa would be more affordable now as Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has reduced the entry fee from Rs 2000 to Rs 500, while increasing the licence fee from Rs five crore to Rs 6.5 crore.
Parrikar said the current fee of Rs 2,000 was on the higher side and led to evasion.
"These incidents of substantial leakages are due to lack of effective regulation and regulatory mechanism," he added.
He is working on an appropriate legislation, to prevent the entry of the resident of the state as well as youth under 21 years in age.
The state was expecting a revenue of Rs 9.41 crore through entry fee in 2012-13. Parrikar said that the targeted revenue will take a dip after slashing of the entry fee.
"To compensate, the licence fee of off-shore casinos has been increased from existing Rs 5 crore to Rs 6.5 crore annually," he said while presenting the budget in Assembly.
State expects additional revenue of Rs 40 crore from the hiked licence fees.
Goa has six off-shore ship-based casinos anchored in the River Mandovi.
He also plans to move the off-shore casinos out of Mandovi river.
The state has also proposed to revise licence fee of on-shore casinos to Rs 2.5 crore annually, which will mop up revenue of Rs 30 crores.
"The licences will be granted only for those hotels having five-star category certification issued by union government," he added.
Also, a law would be enacted to prohibit entry of locals to all casinos operating in Goa, he said.
It will also prohibit entry of youths below 21 years at the casinos. The budget has also proposed to increase entertainment tax on casinos from existing 10 percent to 15 per cent.
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