Delta Corp Ltd, India’s only listed gaming company, announced on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement to operate a casino in the Indian state of Sikkim. The company already secured a provisional licence from the state government, Delta Corp said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The stock price of Delta Corp, which operates several casinos in the Indian state of Goa, surged nearly 6 percent on Wednesday, before closing about 1 percent higher on the day.
The company, controlled by businessman Jaydev Mody, said it signed “a leave and licence agreement” for premises in the Denzong Regency Hotel (pictured), in Gangtok, the capital city of the state of Sikkim. The landlocked Indian state is located in the Himalayan Mountains, bordering Nepal and the Indian state of West Bengal.
“Delta Corp has also obtained a provisional licence from the government of Sikkim under the Sikkim Casino (Control and Tax) Act [of] 2002,” the firm said in Tuesday’s filing.
Delta Corp said it was in the process of refurbishing and adapting the premises at the Denzong Regency Hotel in order to host a casino. The works to get the premises ready “should be completed in the next three months”.
The company added it would operate a “live gaming casino” in Sikkim, “offering approximately 150 gaming positions”.
Currently, only two Indian states – Goa and Sikkim – allow some form of casino gaming. Sikkim has two casinos, while Goa offers about 15 gaming venues, according to an April report from consulting firm Global Market Advisors LLC (GMA).
The casino at Denzong Regency Hotel will be Gangtok’s third; Casino Sikkim and Casino Mahjong are the two gaming venues currently in operation in the Indian state. According to GMA, to enter either of the existing casinos, patrons must provide proof of age and pay entrance fees ranging from US$15 to US$53.
