India to Legalize Online Casinos

The Ministry of Home Affairs in India is considering relaxing its blanket ban on online casinos, a move that could be a watershed moment for the industry as a whole. 

Games of chance in all their forms were banned under the 1987 Public Gaming Law. In 2023, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology brought in a new self-regulatory system for the skill-based gaming sector. Now the country wants to go further and introduce a legal framework for the online gambling industry that will include online casinos. 

Massive Market in the Making

India is the most populous nation in the world, with 1.44 billion people. The sheer weight of numbers makes it a prize worth fighting for. Like Brazil, which has just introduced its own framework for legal online gambling and issued the first licenses to operators in January, the size and economic strength of India has the potential to turn the industry on its head.

 With a legal framework for online gambling and sports betting, India would instantly become one of the world’s biggest markets. The whole sector is paying close attention to any news from government offices, and is ready to seize the opportunity.

“It has been decided that MHA’s Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) will prepare a report based on the discussions regarding the need for a new law to regulate online gaming, gambling, betting, and lotteries,” a government sourced told the country’s Channel 18 News. “Since these activities are expanding rapidly, a decision will be made once the report is submitted.”

The skill-based game sector is already worth $2.8 billion a year, with recent studies predicting it will hit $8.6 billion by 2027. If online casinos and sportsbooks were legalized, the revenue from these industries would likely dwarf those numbers. It’s a potent market, then, and behind the scenes the igaming industry is lobbying hard to push through legislation and turn India into the next big battleground.