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NEWS-INDIA: Maharashtra to take betting on horse races online
Maharashtra to take betting on horse races online
By Shiv Kumaar, Indo-Asian News Service
Mumbai, Dec 7 (IANS) Close on the heels of taking its lottery online, the
Maharashtra government is all set to permit e-betting on racehorses.
According to sources in the Office of the State Commissioner for Lotteries,
the government will formally release the rules for online betting on horses
and invite bids from agents for licences.
The licensee will have to share the proceeds with the Maharashtra government
and the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC), which conducts horse racing
at the Mahalaxmi, Mumbai and the Pune racecourses.
On its part, the state government will utilise its share of the profits to
improve the social infrastructure in Maharashtra, officials said.
Though the RWITC has a few off-site betting centres in Mumbai, they do not
guarantee anonymity to punters. Now, racing aficionados can register with
the official racing Web site incognito and place bets using pre-paid cards.
Officials said the stakes are high for the Maharashtra government and the
turf club. "While horse racing tots up Rs.10,000 million in the country
annually, it can go up several times if it's made available online," an
official said.
People from small towns and even abroad where horse racing is not permitted
can place bets discreetly. Most of these punters currently play the races
abroad using international cards, officials said.
The Maharashtra government entered the online lottery earlier this week in a
tie-up with a group company promoted by Subhash Chandra, who owns Zee
Television. The company is already in the lottery business on behalf of the
governments of Sikkim, Karnataka and Punjab.
The Megawin lottery, promoted in collaboration with the Maharashtra
government, is being sold via 4,000 terminals installed at small shops
across the country. The state hopes to earn Rs.50,000 million from this
venture in 10 years.
The money would be spent on education, health and infrastructure projects in
Maharashtra, according to a statement put out by the state government.
--Indo-Asian News Service
