Goa Casino Fees Hiked By 30% And More; Third Hike in As Many Years

Days after Manohar Parrikar returned as Chief Minister of Goa, heading the BJP-led administration, fees for casinos were increased by 30% to 50%, depending on the categories. The hike announced in the budget is the third in consecutive years.

The news was reported by the Herald Goa and informed the following hike in fees –

• License renewal fees have been raised by almost 30% from ₹20 lakhs to ₹30 lakhs.

• Transfer fees have been raised to ₹10 crores for onshore and to ₹20 crores for offshore casinos. Currently, transfer fees consisted of ₹2 Lakhs for application and ₹5 crores on approval.

• Annual recurring fees for land-based casinos will now be ₹50 Lakhs. Offshore casinos with passenger capacity of 200 to 400 will now have to pay ₹11 crores. Vessels with passenger capacity above 400 will be charged ₹12 crores.

The increase has been announced barely a week before the March 31 deadline for the offshore casinos to be moved out of the River Mandovi, which is quite contradictory and leads one to wonder about the shift. In fact, even before the poll results on March 11, the sixth casino license was renewed for Golden Globe Hotels Private Limited.

Despite the increase, casino operators must rest easy now that Parrikar is back, as he has openly proclaimed casinos as revenue-cows for the state and this move will certainly quell the anti-BJP lobby, which accuses it of being pro-casinos.