Meghalaya has been tagged as the “most gaming-friendly state” in India by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) in its industry report launched today in Shillong by its representatives at a meeting with Law Minister, James Sangma.
Besides the launch, the UKIBC met Sangma to discuss the online gaming and sports betting landscape in the State.
According to the UKIBC’s Gaming Industry Index, which measures the extent to which each State has legalised gaming and betting based on their stance on seven different games of lottery, horse racing, sports betting, poker, rummy, casino, and fantasy sports, Meghalaya scored 92.85 (on a scale of 0 to 100 where 100 is fully legalised) with licenses applicable in all seven games.
It may be mentioned that the NPP-led MDA government had passed the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021. Works to set up casinos in Ri Bhoi district have already began and sources said these are likely to be set up in Khanapara and Jorabat, which fall under the Raid Marwet on the Assam-Meghalaya border.
UK India Business Council, through its report, reveals how a clearer approach to regulation would attract FDI; create jobs and growth; combat corruption; enhance the integrity of sport; increase the tax revenue in the State; and support the State’s wider tourism sector.
The report proposes a series of recommendations to capture the large and growing opportunities for India to benefit from the sector’s growth.
Currently, different aspects of the industry, such as betting on sports, vary in regulation and legalisation across States. India’s gaming industry is broadly split into ‘games of skill’ and ‘games of chance’. Some States, such as Meghalaya, Goa and Sikkim, have created exceptions within their gambling acts for authorised gaming, issuing licenses for games of chance in casinos on land and offshore.
In 2021, Meghalaya enacted the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act 2021, wherein licenses pertaining to games of chance mentioned in its schedule are allowed under a license. It is expected in 2022 that licenses for it would be issued.
UKIBC Managing Director, Kevin McCole, said: “We applaud the Government of Meghalaya on its forward-thinking approach to the license of games of chance in the state, which will help to contribute greater revenues and bring jobs to the state.”
Pointing out that a regulated market also provides safeguards and protection for players, safeguards that are not available in the unregulated sector he said it is clear that both the unregulated and regulated gaming sector in India will continue to grow significantly. There are therefore strong reasons to work towards this growth taking place under regulations, he added.
The UKIBC further we recommend the government of India to adopt the Law Commission’s 2018 recommendation that sports betting be regulated. “Not least because it will attract FDI, stimulate domestic investment, create jobs, generate government revenue, tackle corruption and enable responsible playing,” the council said.
