Feature
Trade with Central Asia can boost with proper connectivity: CII
New Delhi: On the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five-nation Central Asian tour, the Confederation of Indian Industry has said trade with the region could jump manifold provided the right connectivity was put in place.
“There is need to rapidly move forward on the International North-South Transport Corridor that would connect India to Central Asia and Russia via Iran,” Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) director general Chandrajit Banerjee said in a statement here on Sunday.
“The INSTC (International North-South Transport Corridor) would greatly reduce freight transport time and open up connectivity between these regions,” he added.
“There is need to develop more transport corridors that can connect India to the Central Asia region and provide commercial and shipping access to India’s warm water ports for these land-locked nations,” Banerjee said.
“CII estimates that trade with the five Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan can multiply manifold from the small base of $1.4 billion currently,” he added.
Pointing to India’s ancient links with Central Asia, the industry body said: “Priority must be given to a pipeline connecting India to Central Asia as in the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Iran-Pakistan) pipeline project.”
The INSTC agreement was signed more than a decade ago with Russia and Iran for better connectivity to the Eurasian region through Iran. The INSTC members met last month and reviewed the status of report on the dry run between India, Iran and Russia via the Caspian Sea, while a follow-up meeting has been slated for this month.
The transport corridor across Nhava Sheva (Mumbai) through Bandar Abbas port (Iran) to Astrakhan (Russia) and Baku (Azerbaijan) is expected to substantially cut cargo transportation time between India, the Central Asian region and Russia.
The CII also suggested that India and the three-member Eurasian Economic Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus engage in free trade agreement negotiations on the fast-track.
Modi is also slated to visit Ufa City in Russia for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS summits, where he will also have an extended meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on plans to further the strategic partnership between Russia and India.
While Kazakhstan is a major oil producer and Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have some of the biggest natural gas reserves, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are estimated to have considerable untapped reserves.
Modi’s visit will be the first by an Indian prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to a region linked by history with India. The ties run deep, considering the journey of the Turkicised Mongols from the region to India to found the Mughal empire.
Meanwhile, India and the Eurasian Economic Union have set up a joint study group to explore the feasibility of a free-trade agreement for promoting bilateral trade and investments, India’s commerce ministry said in a statement here last week.
The study group will submit its report within a year.
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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