A new casino is set to join the two other existing gambling establishments in the Sikkim state in the next two or three months, GLaw.in reported.
According to the news outlet, Delta Corp, the largest and only publicly traded gaming and hospitality company in India, has partnered with Hotel WelcomHeritage Denzong Regency in the Gangtok area for the new venture.
Multiple sources familiar with the matter told GLaw.in’s Jay Sayta that the hotel has obtained a license to operate a live casino under the Sikkim casinos Control & Tax Act, 2002. Under its partnership with Delta Corp, the gaming space in the hotel will be leased to the Indian gaming company, which will be “responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of the new casino.”
The company or the hotel has yet to make an announcement, but Sayta believes news of the partnership including “further details about the operations and commencement” will come in the next few days.
Delta Corp’s planned establishment will join Sikkim’s two other existing casinos—Casino Mahjong in the Mayfair resort and Casino Sikkim in Hotel Royal Plaza. Hotel Denzong Regency, however, is reportedly located closest to the Gangtok city.
Sikkim, a small state located in northwest India, is one of the three areas—Goa and Daman were the other two states—that allow live casinos to operate within its borders. Sikkim’s casinos were launched in 2009, and brought a surge in tourism with an estimated 12,000 tourists visiting the state per year.
Delta Corp currently operates two offshore and one onshore casino in Goa. Recently, the company announced that the government of Goa already allowed its MV Royale Flotel vessel to operate in Mandovi River until the government finds an alternate site for all offshore casinos operating in the state.
Last month, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar admitted the government has yet to decide on the fate of the state’s offshore casinos, telling local media: “As of now, we have not been able to scout for a suitable location.”
