A depreciating rupee is motivating wealthy Indians to pursue their entertainments closer to home, and Goa’s casino operators say they’re reaping the benefits.
“Most of our clients are from north India,” one executive told the English-language Times of India. “With the depreciating rupee, travelling abroad is expensive, and it’s cheaper to fly to Goa for gambling.”
To take advantage of the situation, the casinos reportedly are working through agents in Delhi to pre-arrange large cash transfers to their properties.
In all, it’s a considerable plus for the tiny state on the country’s Arabian Sea coast. Tourists historically have provided the bulk of the trade on a mix of gambling boats in the Mandovi River and some 12 casinos in resort hotels in and around the capital of Panaji. But competition from Singapore and Macau has taken a toll, operators say, while Sri Lanka and Nepal more recently have emerged as cheaper alternatives. A slowing economy and other factors such as a ban on mining also have hurt, they say.
In part it’s the reason why the number of riverboats has fallen in recent years from six to three. Yet, as one executive told the Times, “The serious players who are high-spenders never stopped coming.”
The actual state of the market is difficult to assess. Officially, the industry is turning over a combined 900-1,000 crore per year, or roughly US$145 million-$165 million. But sources cited by the Times say the real numbers are much higher. If taxes and fees are any indication, the casinos in total paid the equivalent of $43.6 million to the state in the 2012-2013 financial year, according to the legislature’s tally.
