India is one of the most populated countries worldwide with over 1.3 billion people. This is why it is regarded as a huge potential market for many businesses and industries including the online gambling sector. India has over 760 million mobile users and in 2019, there were over 420 million of this number are connected to the internet.
Despite being in the gray area when it comes to how legal online gambling is in the country, it is already a huge local industry. The Week reported that around 40 percent of the internet users in India would gamble and other research even suggests that around 80 percent of the adult population in the country would gamble at least once a year at the top casinos with rupees in India.
Either way, these numbers suggest that the local market has a huge potential. It’s so huge that there is a good chance that it could beat the country with the biggest online gambling market out there at the moment, the United Kingdom.
Why European companies are taking a look at Indian market
Well, aside from how big the population is in the country, big gambling businesses also know how much Indians love to gamble. India surely has quite a history with gambling, especially with card games. However, what’s becoming more popular today is sports betting and this is based on how much the country loves sports like cricket, tennis, and basketball.
Today, without any particular laws on online gambling, many Indians are already taking part in it. They can do this without legal implications as long as they place their bets on casinos and bookies based offshore. For some states, offshore operators are allowed to offer their services to the locals if they have Indian rupees as a payment option.
And big gambling companies see India’s potential. Some of them even launched a dedicated site to Indian players or customers with support teams speaking in Hindi and Bengali. The promos and bonuses that they offer are the ones that the Indian market can relate to. Some of these betting sites include Betway, 10CRIC, Casumo, Jackpot City, Leo Vegas, and Rizk Casino.
There are now plenty of iGaming software developers that are creating games for the Indian market like Andar Bahar and Teen Patti. There are now also card games like poker and blackjack that are available in varieties that are based on or influenced by Bollywood.
India’s love for the sport, particularly cricket, is also worth pointing out. It is estimated that the locals would spend millions in bets on a single ODI test or match. The biggest and most popular cricket league, the Indian Premier League, is also a favorite sports event that the locals would wager on.
Another factor that pushes European gambling companies towards the Indian market is how the UK is starting to get stricter in its gambling regulations. The UK has been relaxed in its gambling regulations for a long time now but over the last few years, the UK Gambling Commission has been coming up with initiatives that are somehow hurting the gambling businesses.
India is still looking attractive to these companies because they aren’t exactly prohibited to offer their services to the locals. Today, only two states in India have already announced the ban on any sort of online gambling and so far, it’s unlikely that more states will follow suit.
Should India consider regulating online gambling?
India’s Minister of Finance, Anurag Sing Thakur, believes that sports betting, in particular, should be legalized in the country. “Betting can be an effective tool to curb match-fixing, which is why we need to consider possibilities. Such a system can help in monitoring people allegedly involved in fixing,” Thakur explained.
When talking about the numbers, it’s easy to understand why the Minister of Finance has such sentiments. Based on statistics, the underground betting market is valued at over 60 billion US dollars and 80 percent of its income is from cricket betting.
That is just a portion of what the country is losing when it comes to tax revenues. Aside from the underground market, the offshore casino sites and bookies are also taking a lot of potential revenues. The countries where these betting sites are licensed and situated are the ones that are benefiting the most.
This is why the United States is starting to regulate sports betting in more territories. The local governments are just really starting to understand how much revenue they could get from gambling activities when regulated properly. India can take some lessons from the states in the US with legal gambling and even the UK itself. When done right, online gambling can be beneficial to the local economy.
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