Maharashtra Gambling Laws May be Changed to Legalize Gambling

23rd May 2016

India’s third-largest state Maharashtra is about to hit the jackpot if the law makers in the state decide to change Maharashtra Gambling Laws in order to legalize gambling in the state.

According to latest online gambling news, Maharashtra, which is known for the splendid city of Mumbai, is about to welcome new casinos if the lawmakers can decide on changing the 40-year-old Casinos Act which was passed and published in July 1976.

Indian gambling laws are pretty strict as there are only two Indian states which allow gambling that are Goa and Sikkim. If Maharashtra gambling laws is updated in favor of legalizing gambling in the state, it will be the third state with legal casinos which means a huge gambling and tourism income for the state.

Indian gambling market is estimated to be worth around USD 60 billion annually, half of which is gained through illegal gambling activities in India. The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) supports the arrival of news casinos in the state since the gambling potential of the country is huge and the tourism can be easily boosted if there are proper casinos in Maharashtra.

The most significant proposal regarding the legalizations of gambling in Maharashtra is based on the monopoly of the government in the gambling market of the state for a couple of years. The proposal suggests that the state government should operate the casinos for a while before they are privatized so that the government can make a lot of profit at the beginning while the tourism industry flourishes thanks to gambling in Maharashtra.

It is also claimed that these casinos may be off-shore like in Goa. In other words, there will be special casino boats in Mumbai and other major cities within the borders of Maharashtra. So, technically gambling activities will be held out of the land borders of the state.

Another important feature of the Maharashtra casinos will be the exclusion of the locals. Only, the foreign tourists will be able to gamble in these casinos.

The decision is expected to be set by next week. However, the expectations are not so high as the Mumbai gambling authorities may dismiss this proposal since the government couldn’t resolve the gambling issue in Maharashtra in the allowed six-month period. For the time being, the fate of Maharashtra gambling laws is still not clear.