CHAIRMAN
Delta Corp
POWER SCORE: 601
POSITION LAST YEAR: 44
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Owns India’s only listed casino operator
- Becoming established as India’s leader in online gaming space
- Recently expanded to Nepal and planning integrated resort in Goa
JAYDEV MODY will no doubt be delighted at the latest quarterly figures for Delta Corp, with solid sequential and year-on-year growth after a horror run along with so much of the Indian economy these last three years.
Segment-wise, however, there are complications. Delta’s land-based casinos in Goa remain subject to the whims and epic procrastinations of a string of Goan governments struggling to relocate the state’s famed riverboat casinos to a gaming precinct north of the capital.
Tighter restrictions on local gaming, tax changes, court battles over Delta’s vessels and the question of relocation are a cocktail of instability that Delta Corp is no stranger to. But as India’s premier listed gambling company, shareholders will be hoping for more stability in Goa and Nepal, a nation with a nuisance factor all its own for gaming moguls.
Yet the 2017 acquisition of online poker site Adda52.com may still emerge as the canniest of Delta’s investments, given the legal and market momentum that is firming for online skill games. A pending Supreme Court hearing on state legislation hostile to online skill games has the potential to bring respectability and a huge boost in volume to Delta’s online interests in previously taboo state markets.
For the full list of 2022 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.
