Punjab planning its very own Las Vegas

CHANDIGARH: Aiming to boost tourist footfall, Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Badalhas ordered the state’s infrastructure development agency, Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB), to set up a Las Vegas strip-like casino at Mattewara village on the banks of river Satluj near Ludhiana.

Athree-member team comprising a PIDB official and two members from an empanelled private agency, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited, was sent on a fourday visit to Goa last week to study and explore the possibility of installing slot machines in Punjab, set to become the third state after Sikkim and Goa to have casinos.

According to the visit report , the casinos planned in Mattewara will have an entry fee of Rs 500-Rs 1,000, around 30-50 slot machines, video pokers and card games and will be open 24 hours. Mattewara is already set to have a horse racing turf, a golf course and an amusement park.