A new 2,000-capacity casino vessel will not replace a smaller, 70-guest casino boat on India’s Mandovi River. On 6 May, the Bombay High Court in Goa barred the 112-metre, seven-storey MV Deltin Royale from joining a cluster of floating casinos on the waterway.
The order came down from Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar. They ruled that, without certificate of survey to verify its seaworthiness, the “vessel in question shall not sail into the Panjim Port. … Further, even if such certificates and requirements for sailing of the vessel into the Panaji Port are obtained, the vessel shall not sail into the port without prior permission of this court.”
Environmentalists vs. operators
Many Goans have long opposed casino boats on the Mandovi, saying they pollute the estuary and damage local fisheries.
Environmentalists say the local government cleared the hulking Deltin Royale to berth despite statements from the captain and secretary of ports that it “may create further navigational hazards [and] create a bottleneck at mooring positions”. In a petition, they pointed out that the Deltin Royale has more guest capacity than the six existing riverboats combined.
Father Bolmax Pereira of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman’s Commission for Ecology hailed the recent court order, reported UCA News.
“The casino vessel debate is not an isolated controversy, but part of a wider ecological awakening in Goa,” he said. Pereira called it “symbolic of a larger pattern of unsustainable development in ecologically fragile zones”.
Gaming as economic pillar
Gambling is legal in just three of India’s 36 states and union territories: Goa, Sikkim and Daman and Diu. Goa – sometimes called “the Las Vegas of India” – currently hosts 13 casinos, seven ashore and six offshore. As reported by the Goa Herald, the local government collected ₹353.78 crore (US$37 million) from casinos in 2022-23. Revenue peaked at ₹603.76 crore in 2023-24; in FY 2024–25, the state reaped ₹461.71 crore from the industry.
The district bench will continue to hear arguments from local opponents and Delta Pleasure Cruise Company Ltd, the ship’s operator. It has scheduled a follow-up hearing on the matter for July 6. They also ordered officials to investigate the mass die-off of fish in Panaji, the capital of Goa, in April.
In March, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the state has no plans to license new offshore casinos.
Marjorie Preston
Marjorie began her gaming career in 2007 and has focused on Asian gaming markets since 2020. Outside of work, she writes about travel and film and plays the drums.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/casino/india-court-prohibits-new-casino-boat-on-goas-mandovi-river/
