No Plans to Restart Casinos Soon-Says Pramod Sawant

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said that the state government has no plans to allow Goa casinos to reopen soon. As such, the new guidelines of the central government allow many sectors of the economy to loosen sufficiently. But casino cinema halls, bars and international flights will remain closed for now.

Sawant during an interview asked him about casinos in the state and confirmed that he had no plans to resume soon.

The shutdown has caused heavy losses to the casino industry, with the casino sector in Goa leaving more than 1,000 employees and drastically cutting the salaries of the remaining employees.

All casinos in Goa were ordered closed from 15 March 2020.Casinos across the Indian subcontinent, including Sikkim, Nepal and Sri Lanka, have been closed since March and there is no indication that any will open in the next few months.

Casinos are difficult to start operations before July or August. Strict social distance rules and restrictions by the government to prevent large-scale social, religious, cultural or sports ceremonies.