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As casinos reopen in Nepal, country starts direct Mumbai-Kathmandu flight

Nepal Airlines had exited its operations from India about a decade back due to lack of enough aircraft and other operational reasons. At present, Air India, Jet Airways and IndiGo fly to Nepal, with only Jet Airways serving Mumbai.

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All the casinos were shut about one-and-a-half year ago due to law compliance issues and political reasons—For representation purpose only
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With the gambling industry in India estimated to be over $60 billion despite the ban, Nepal, touted to be the next casino capital of the world, has aggressively started targeting the growing Indian middle class to its shores.

To start with, Nepal's national carrier, Nepal Airlines, has restarted direct services connecting Mumbai with capital Katmandu from Friday. The airline has already started flights from Delhi and Bengaluru and has plans to fly from Kolkata and even several tier-2 cities. It has also tied up with travel agents to offer travel packages for the same.

Nepal Airlines had exited its operations from India about a decade back due to lack of enough aircraft and other operational reasons. At present, Air India, Jet Airways and IndiGo fly to Nepal, with only Jet Airways serving Mumbai.

"Casinos are picking up again in Nepal, and, hence, we expect to attract a lot of Indian tourists," said Saroj Kasaju, director, commercial department, Nepal Airlines.

All the casinos were shut about one-and-a-half year ago due to certain law compliance issues and political reasons, but they have reopened recently.

Nepal's thrust to promote casinos is backed by a report released last month by leading global gaming investment company, Union Gaming Securities Asia Limited, which states that the opening of Singapore's two casino resorts in 2010 coincided with a sharp rise in the number of Indian visitors to that city-state.

The report further states that India produces approximately $10 billion a year in gross gaming revenue, which includes both legal and illegal gambling coming from casino and non-casino gaming. In addition, most middle-class people in India are familiar with several forms of gambling but don't have places to play in. Another positive sign is that Nepal casinos are allowed to accept bets in Indian rupees.

Nepal already attracts tourists from India for religious, adventure and business tourism, though the number declined drastically by about 25% since the devastating earthquakes which rocked the Himalayan country earlier this year.

Gambling is considered auspicious by Indians during Diwali, when hundreds of crores of rupees are said to be won/lost during day-night-long illicit sessions of card games, such as teen patti and poker among others. It is banned in India by a law first enacted in the 19th century, except in Goa, Daman and Sikkim.

Globally, Las Vegas, Macau, Singapore and, to an extent, Malaysia and South Africa are prominent gambling venues, where rich Indians are know to splurge in the game of chance.

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