Gambling not a taboo; cig, liquor -ve for industry: Delta Corp

Below is the transcript of Jaydev Mody’s interview to Varinder Bansal on CNBC-TV18. Q: How did you get into this business? A: Opportunity presented. It was more opportunity based than anything else. And opportunity presented itself by the government of Goa deciding to give six offshore licenses and it was right there for the asking. And the terms of the letter of intent gave me an edge because I could move very fast and I normally do. And we moved into it very quickly, but more opportunity based than me actually going out and looking for this business. Q: This business is still considered to be a bit taboo. As you had your life of at least 30 years in businesses which are way away from this business, was it difficult to convince your family, your wife, three daughters and everyone around? How difficult was it for them to say I am starting a Casino and that is my business from now on? A: I did not really have to convince them. A lot of them are not very excited about it, but everyone supported the idea even if they did not like it. They saw it more as I saw it, a business rather than a taboo industry. And it is not really taboo. Gambling has been part of our culture from thousands of years. Overseas it is not looked at in a negative manner. There are more negative industries like cigarettes, tobacco and liquor, etc. This is much better. This is an entertainment thing. Goa is a tourist destination, it is drawing a lot of tourist and this is not really a serious gambling destination. It is a mass market destination. Q: You are considered to be a risk taker like whatever I have read about you, whether it was the redevelopment of mills in Mumbai which was the first off to your mark, whether it was the first mall in Mumbai which was again the first in India or whether it is the gaming business. And all of them have a lot of regulatory challenges. Do you not get scared of it or tired of it? A: No, not yet. It has not happened yet. It has always excited me and path-breaking new business are always going to pose challenges. And it has been fun for me. We have succeeded in everything new that we have done, whether it was the textile mills or making the first mall in the country and then it has become a huge industry. As you know, there are thousands of malls starting from Crossroads which we developed. And this as well, like you know, in Daman, how the regulatory issues have delayed business, but we have not given up, we keep at it and we will succeed hopefully and it has always been exciting and a challenge. So, it does not tire me out or does not scare me. It excites me. I love it. Q: Who can I say was your biggest support system when it comes to coming to your second innings as an entrepreneur building Delta Corp at the age of 52? A: Biggest support I have ever had was from my wife. She has always supported me and she has always helped, we have always talked and biggest motivator and support system comes from her. Q: How difficult was it to raise capital because you have started the textile company, Arrow Textiles and then went into real estate and then came the avatar of Delta Corp. How difficult was it to raise capital in the older days? A: Initially it is always difficult, but once you have proven that you can start businesses and run businesses and you are willing to be passionate and hardworking and straightforward in your dealings, the money comes. People who have faith in you and who read you right will fund you.Q: What I learned about you, you come from a middle class family. Even when you started the business at the age of around 18 or 19 years you had to borrow money to redevelop an ancestral property in Baroda and now we have Delta Corp in front of you. How difficult was the journey or how was the journey like?A: It was difficult. Without capital it makes it much more difficult to grow and to be able to fund your dreams. So, it was difficult. And it continues to be difficult because where you want to go is always somewhere else and along the way it is never easy. It wasn't easy then, it wasn't easy now.Q: But did you had backing of anyone in terms of capital when you went from Baroda to Mumbai or was it yourself only, you were plunging into something learning and then slowly and slowly building what you had to?A: It was always from debt and then finally in the early 90s, mid 90s we went public that gave us some capital. Then it was Arrow at that time and we grew the business and the we added real estate to the business and finally we split the company into two out of which Delta Corp was one of the split companies. It was demerged of two businesses and it has always been something creative and it has never been easy to answer your question.