29/10/2009, Online casino
Betfair and William Hill, two of the Britain's biggest betting companies, are bidding for the first online gambling licence in the Himalayan state of Sikkim, in order to grab a slice of the $60billion betting market.
According to the Independent newspaper, there are thirteen companies, including local Indian operators, competing for the possibility of three licences.
The Province of Sikkim has a population of less than 600,000, while India has a growing population of 1.2 billion. The licence operators are convinced that, once the gaming revenues start to grow and once India will see the huge revenues and tax receipts following into Sikkim, other states will definitely fall in line.

The Indian law demands foreign companies to have a local joint venture operator as a partner in order to launch in the country.
William Hill, for example, is already in discussions with Global Torrent International, a potential partner from India, based in Sikkim.
“I can confirm that we are interested in entering the Indian market and we are in discussions with potential partners at the moment,” said a William Hill spokesman.

According to the current land gambling restriction, the only legal betting activities in India are horse racings, trackside at meetings and gambling at casinos in two states only, Goa and Sikkim.
It is already known that both Betfair – which is thought to be partnering with Agilisys Managed Services - and Bwin have had teams on the ground in India for some time. Ladbrokes and 888 are also considering bidding for a licence in Sikkim.

Official figures show that legal operators of casinos and horse racing operators make about $400 million in revenue per year, from a turnover of $20 billion.
A decision regarding the licences is expected within the next two weeks and it will come into effect in September 2010.
The Province of Sikkim will be the first Indian state to offer online gambling licenses.