Online sports betting may become legal in India in two years

The Sports Ministry is also likely to seek assistance from its counterparts in the UK, where gambling is legal. Sports Secretary Injeti Srinivas, who is currently in England, is likely to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in which online sports betting will be one of the key points. "The UK has one of the most effective gambling laws. We hope to understand their system and see if it is possible to introduce it in India,” said a ministry official.

According to International Centre for Sport Security, the illegal betting market in India is worth US$ 150 billion. Most of it is via local bookmakers and unregulated offshore websites. At present, betting is legal only on horse racing, and it is taxed at 28 %.

At a Group of Secretaries meeting recently, the Sports Ministry said it can address the issue of poor funding for sports at central and state level by making online betting legal. The possibility of diverting a sizeable part of the revenue generated from betting towards the ministry’s programmes is also being deliberated.

"The UK has overcome this (poor funding) through lottery and online betting. The department is preparing an MoU with the UK and the aspect of betting will be included therein in order to understand the mechanism and evolve a view on the possibility of its introduction in India,” the ministry said in its presentation.

A Sports Ministry official said the government was conscious of the social ramifications of such a move. "However, it can be beneficial to the economy as well as sports overall. We are looking at the best international practices in sports integrity and ethics framework,” the official said.