Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
Indian casino to rival Las Vegas' best? You bet!
Monday, 10 September 2007, 19:30 IST
New Delhi: Playwin, an Indian online gaming company is readying to launch a casino on a luxury vessel that will be anchored in the high seas off Goa even as it plans to ramp up its global operations.
The 
1-billion casino project is set for a mid-2008 launch, said Amar Sinha, MD, Pan India Network Infravest that runs the Playwin gaming brand.
"We'll be offering 20,000 sq ft of casino area that will rival the best Las Vegas has to offer," Sinha, whose company is part of Subhash Chandra's $1-billion Essel Group, told IANS.
"We have purchased a ship for 150 million and this is currently being fitted out in Italy. The ship will be anchored in international waters off Goa. High-speed motorboats will ferry gamers back and forth," he added.
Speaking about his expansion plans for Playwin, which is targeting revenues of 30 billion in the current fiscal, Sinha said he hoped to expand its global reach to Central Asia, Europe and South Africa.
"We currently have a presence in Kenya, Cambodia and the Philippines. A lot of other opportunities are being contemplated," he added.
Pan India is also planning to open on behalf of Mumbai's Royal Western India Turf Club some 100 off-course betting centres across Maharashtra, up from the current eight.
This apart, the company has also acquired Ten10 Digital, a British company that telecasts horse races, but there are no immediate plans to establish a Ladbrokes-style betting facility for the Indian Cricket League (ICL) that the Essel group has floated.
"We are waiting for the right time," Sinha said, indicating it could happen sometime in the not too distant future.
That Indian punters would lap up such a facility can be gauged from the fact that 70 percent of the bets placed in London on cricket matches come from this country.
Sinha also pleaded for creating greater awareness in the government about the potential of the online lottery business to generate huge revenues for social sector programmes.
"The challenge is to make the government understand the revenue potential of online lotteries and of the huge revenues it is losing out due to paper lotteries and illegal betting," he maintained.
"Online gaming will take people away from illegal lotteries as it is completely transparent and is properly audited, in our case, by Ernst & Young," Sinha pointed out.
The global online lottery business is estimated at around $200. The size of the official lottery business in India is pegged at some 250 billion ($6 million), of which online lotteries account for five percent.
"The size of the illegal betting market is around 250 billion, which means that the government is losing out on at least 10 billion in revenues," Sinha contended.
"If the government does not act quickly, it will only promote more black money that will fund underworld activities. The government will then have to spend millions to control these activities," he said, suggesting a watchdog to monitor lottery draws and ensure proper utilisation of revenues.
"Right now, foreign direct investment (FDI) is not permitted in the lottery sector nor are investors looking at India. But if proper systems are in place, foreign players might want to come in," Sinha maintained.
Source: IANS
1-billion casino project is set for a mid-2008 launch, said Amar Sinha, MD, Pan India Network Infravest that runs the Playwin gaming brand.
"We'll be offering 20,000 sq ft of casino area that will rival the best Las Vegas has to offer," Sinha, whose company is part of Subhash Chandra's $1-billion Essel Group, told IANS.
"We have purchased a ship for 150 million and this is currently being fitted out in Italy. The ship will be anchored in international waters off Goa. High-speed motorboats will ferry gamers back and forth," he added.
Speaking about his expansion plans for Playwin, which is targeting revenues of 30 billion in the current fiscal, Sinha said he hoped to expand its global reach to Central Asia, Europe and South Africa.
"We currently have a presence in Kenya, Cambodia and the Philippines. A lot of other opportunities are being contemplated," he added.
Pan India is also planning to open on behalf of Mumbai's Royal Western India Turf Club some 100 off-course betting centres across Maharashtra, up from the current eight.
This apart, the company has also acquired Ten10 Digital, a British company that telecasts horse races, but there are no immediate plans to establish a Ladbrokes-style betting facility for the Indian Cricket League (ICL) that the Essel group has floated.
"We are waiting for the right time," Sinha said, indicating it could happen sometime in the not too distant future.
That Indian punters would lap up such a facility can be gauged from the fact that 70 percent of the bets placed in London on cricket matches come from this country.
Sinha also pleaded for creating greater awareness in the government about the potential of the online lottery business to generate huge revenues for social sector programmes.
"The challenge is to make the government understand the revenue potential of online lotteries and of the huge revenues it is losing out due to paper lotteries and illegal betting," he maintained.
"Online gaming will take people away from illegal lotteries as it is completely transparent and is properly audited, in our case, by Ernst & Young," Sinha pointed out.
The global online lottery business is estimated at around $200. The size of the official lottery business in India is pegged at some 250 billion ($6 million), of which online lotteries account for five percent.
"The size of the illegal betting market is around 250 billion, which means that the government is losing out on at least 10 billion in revenues," Sinha contended.
"If the government does not act quickly, it will only promote more black money that will fund underworld activities. The government will then have to spend millions to control these activities," he said, suggesting a watchdog to monitor lottery draws and ensure proper utilisation of revenues.
"Right now, foreign direct investment (FDI) is not permitted in the lottery sector nor are investors looking at India. But if proper systems are in place, foreign players might want to come in," Sinha maintained.
Source: IANS