The new royal casino player in India is here!
Official nod to Royal Plaza to begin casino
GANGTOK, November 12: Step aside Goa, make way for the new royal player from this Himalayan State who today was officially crowned as the first 'land based live' casino in the entire length and breadth of the nation.
In a momentous step towards promoting high end tourism, Sikkim government today authorized Teesta Rangit Private Ltd for installation and operation of casino games at the premises of its luxury hotel, The Royal Plaza here.
Apart from the natural appeal, this mountainous State will have the new attraction radiating from this 60 roomed hotel that has now become all set to roll out its roulette, card tables and slot machines and give its western neighbour Nepal and far flung competitors Goa a run for its money, literally.
The permission granted by the State government is a provisional license that enables the Royal Plaza to run casino till it fully classified as a five star hotel by the Ministry of Tourism.
Original license will be issued to Royal Plaza only after it fulfills the norms of a five star hotel within 5 years as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Tourism.
An elated Naresh Subba who is the director of Royal Plaza hotel said: "With the provisional license, I can start the casino now. This casino is the first land based live casino in India. We are all set and can begin anytime now".
In case you are ready with your money in this 'game of gamble' as Mr. Subba puts it, you have to hold your chips for at least this month.
"We are planning a soft launch of the casino. We are waiting for the Chief Minister Pawan Chamling to come from his trip and we propose to have him to formally inaugurate the casino", said Mr. Subba. He stressed on the steps taken by the Chief Minister to make Sikkim as a major tourism hub and expressed his gratitude for choosing The Royal Plaza for the casino.
The humble opening plans means that the hotel first wants to play its cards carefully till the final showdown when all the games are in place in an enlarged version.
Once the formal opening is done, 40 slot machines, blackjack, poker, baccarat tables and manually controlled roulette awaits those having a taste for financial adventure.
A tour of the prototype casino hall was given by the director to Sikkim Express today evening.
"This casino hall is just a prototype. We will be shifting it in a larger space on the lower level floor of the hotel", informed Mr. Subba.
Sikkim government had set the casino ball rolling when it notified the Sikkim Casino Games (Control and Taxes) Rules, 2007 thereby inviting interested parties for setting up casinos in the State.
Till this period, only Goa had allowed casinos that too electronically controlled.
The objective of the State government was to attract high end domestic and foreign tourists with the casino bid which had already created ripples in the hospitality sector both national and internationally.
Savoring the two page certification from the State government, the Royal Plaza director is thinking big both for the hotel and casino in terms of infrastructure and projection. The luxury hotel presently has 60 rooms.
"We will be pumping Rs. 70 crores in the next two years for the expansion of the hotel where the total rooms will reach to 126. We have invested Rs. 5 crores for the casino infrastructure and are planning to add another Rs. 50 crores to enhance the casino before it opens", said Mr. Subba.
Local employment will be enhanced with this expansion drive. There are now 150 employees in the hotel and with the casino coming up, there will be 300 new jobs opening up, said Mr. Subba.
In terms of human resources, the Royal Plaza is mulling over to have a trained staff to man the casino initially by tying up with a company in Goa besides collaborating for technical support.
Then comes to marketing part where the stakeholder made it clear that the casino is targeted to high end tourists. "
For this, Mr. Subba is already prepared to fly to casino capitals of the world, Las Vegas and Macau. I will be traveling aboard soon to promote the casino located in the tourism State of Sikkim, he said. It will be tourism attraction of Sikkim, he added.
Apart from carving a niche for itself as a major tourism player, Sikkim stands to gain with an amount of Rs. 1.5 crores which will be paid by The Royal Plaza as taxes in the next 5 years.
( sOURCE: sIKKIM eXPRESS)
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