Feature
IT searches continue at Chettinad group offices
Chennai: A 450-member team of Income Tax (IT) department officials on Thursday continued their search operations at various offices of the Chettinad group of companies in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, said a senior official.
He said the searches, which entered its second day on Thursday, are likely to continue on Friday as well. The official said details of the search operation will be shared with the media later.
“Search operations at the offices of the Chettinad group of companies continued for second day. It is likely to continue tomorrow (Friday) also,” the official told.
Searches were conducted at 45 locations in the three states.
“The reason for the raid is suspected evasion of taxes,” the official said.
The Chettinad group has interests in cement, logistics, education, health care, coal terminal and others.
Officials said the search is not connected with the on-going family feud between M.A.M. Ramaswamy, the former chairman of the Chettinad group, and his adopted son M.A.M.R. Muthiah, who now heads the Chettinad group of companies.
Last year, Ramaswamy was ousted as the director of Chettinad Cement and consequently lost his chairman post.
The IT searches began a day after Ramaswamy alleged that the company owes the government a huge sum in sales tax dues.
“The government has told the company to pay up a minimum of around Rs.252 crore before negotiations can take place,” Ramaswamy said at a press conference called on Tuesday to disown his adopted son M.A.M.R. Muthiah, the managing director of the group.
Asked for clarifications on the sales tax issue, Muthiah had told, “The company does not owe any sales tax dues to the government. The company pays its dues every month.”
“Ramaswamy is an outsider to the company. He is not associated with the company in any capacity now. One should not take an outsider’s charges seriously and ask for clarifications,” he said.
On Tuesday, Ramaswamy disowned his adopted son declared that Muthiah should not perform any ceremonies or obsequies on his demise.
A source close to Ramaswamy told that IT officials on Wednesday had visited Ramaswamy’s residence and sought some documents.
“He (Ramaswamy) told his staff to cooperate and give the needed documents,” the source told.
On Thursday also IT officials were at the Chettinad House, where Ramaswamy resides.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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