Asian casino operator Silver Heritage is currently constructing Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa, located about seven miles from the Nepalese border with Indian state Uttar Pradesh. The first purpose built integrated resort in South Asia, the venues 26,597 sq ft casino could begin operating its assortment of 200 slots and 52 gaming tables as soon as November. The Australia-listed regional gaming operator has set aside an additional $13.8 million to fund the construction, which has already been plagued by delays.

David Green, Silver Heritage’s chairman, says betting on Indian consumers has been the right decision amid the ongoing corruption crackdown in Beijing, which is currently spilling over into Macau.

“The detention of Crown Resorts employees in China in October 2016 has exposed the significant risks associated with China-facing VIP programmes, calculated to encourage high-value mainland (Chinese) players to visit casinos,” said Green, who once served as a gaming regulation advisor in Macau. “The reliance of that (China VIP) market on credit has also exposed the fragility of the so-called junket operators who typically source high-value players for casinos outside China.”

Chinese law prohibits advertising gambling services on the mainland but casino operators are permitted to promote their resorts’ non-gaming tourism offerings. Last month saw Guo Shengkun, Public Security Minister for China, announce in Beijing that his office intended to continue investigating “work units and individuals who induce and organize tourists to visit overseas casinos”. This is amid ongoing efforts by the Chinese government to prevent locals from travelling abroad to gamble.

With their business focused on Indian consumers, Green said that the company “has no exposure to gaming credit risk, or to the reputational and business risk presented by under-capitalized junket operators.”