Soon, 6th casino to float in Mandovi river

PANAJI: Goa may soon get a sixth offshore casino in the Mandovi river. Golden Globe Hotels Private Limited (GGHPL) has paid the annual recurring fees and others fees to the state government amounting to over Rs46 crore and has also applied for renewal of its offshore casino licence.
GGHPL is a subsidiary of former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda's MDLR group. Home department under secretary Rohan Kaskar told TOI that GGHPL has deposited the recurring fees with 12% interest, from 2011 to 2016, as also 20 lakh as security deposit.
“GGHPL has applied for renewal of their offshore casino licence and the file will be put up for the government to take a decision,” he added. The casino was granted permission in 2006. Home department sources said that GGHPL has been asked to get all the necessary permissions for the renewal of the licence, which includes permissions from the Goa State Pollution Control Board. (GSPCB), Captain of Ports (CoP), etc.
Recently, the state government has stated before the high court that it shall favourably consider GGHPL’s application for renewal of their casino licence from the year 2016 if they deposit the annual recurring fees. GGPHL had approached the court as the fee payable was Rs50 crore.
Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar had said that the government may consider the renewal of GGHPL’s offshore casino licence if the company paid the annual recurring fees, with penalty and interest, to the state treasury.
An company official said they plan to commence operations soon after Diwali.
The last casino to join the fleet on the Mandovi river was Casino Caravela.