Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, who was also Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2016-2017, stated that legalising batting in India would stop match-fixing and other unholy practice while also help him boost the economy.
Anurag Thakur made the remarks at an event hosted by ICICI Securities, responding to a suggestion by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister’s (EACPM) part-time member and mutual fund industry veteran Nilesh Shah, who pitched for legalising betting in the country.
Betting can become a potent tool to stop fixing: Anurag Thakur
He said that there was an instinct among Indians to bet and gamble so, it would be better to bring in the mainstream while legalizing it. Former BCCI president believes that it would bring good some of the revenue which could be used in the betterment of sports.
“My suggestion will be to legalise betting and gambling activities, which are underground. They continue to exist in our society,” he said.
Thousands of crore of revenue comes to the exchequer through the activity and it gets spent on development of the sport or in other activities, he said.
Anurag Thakur added that the match-fixing would also lead to the control of the match-fixing problem.
“If we look at the problem of match-fixing, then the trends in betting can give us leads on whether something unholy is happening or not. Betting can become a potent tool to stop fixing, he said.
Currently, betting in India is illegal in most parts of India, but every time around Indian Premier League (IPL), several cases are reported of people being found practicing betting. Also, as there is no law which states online betting is illegal, some companies are taking advantage of this loophole. Mobile Premier League (MPL), Dream 11 and My Circle 11 are the company to name some, which encourages online betting.