<p id="content">The casino operations in Goa, which had been suspended on account of the Covid-19 pandemic since March this year, will restart on November 1 with 50 per cent capacity, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Wednesday.

"Casinos will start from November 1. We have given them permission," Sawant told a post-cabinet press conference on Wednesday.

"They will have to follow all the SOPs as issued to them by the Home Department. They will have to operate with 50 per cent capacity. We need to promote tourism activity," the Chief Minister said.

Sawant also said that instead of paying annual fees, the casino operators could now pay their licence fees on a monthly basis.

Goa has six operational offshore casinos, which are anchored in the Mandovi river off Panaji and around 10 onshore casinos operating from the numerous five star resorts located in the state's coastal belt.

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