ONE of the world’s richest men says that India is losing billions of dollars of potential revenues by not having casino resorts.

Sheldon Adelson, chief executive of Las Vegas Sands, says he has regularly asked the Indian government for permission to open a casino resort in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi or Bangalore. So far all his requests have been rejected by the government.

Adelson, who in 2007 and 2008 was ranked the third richest man in America by Forbes magazine, told the Indian press agency PTI: “There are thousands of underground gambling holes, people bet on cricket, horses, so why not use it as a legitimate source of income and employment, coupled with world class spas, restaurants and ballrooms.”

Adelson managed to win the contract for one of two government endorsed casinos in Singapore and he recently oversaw the opening of the Marina Bay Sands, a $5.6 billion project in the centre of Singapore. Adelson has said that he sees comparisons between Singapore and India, in that Singapore’s government was very anti-gambling until they saw that their population wanted it and would travel to neighbouring countries if it was not provided on their doorsteps.

He also pointed out that the gambling element of the Marina Bay sands is very small and governments should look at the developments as a tourism destination which happened to include gambling. “The Marina Bay Sands has a casino… that is just 1% of the total property, but is its central feature,” he said.

He also pointed out that the casino part of any resort was aimed at the middle class, as is the case in their Macau development: “We are definitely not looking at the working class who would not be able to afford it, but we are targeting the Indian middle class, offering them an experience they have not had before.”