Australia-listed Silver Heritage Group Ltd has confirmed that they have received the approval for a casino operation license for Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa. The SHL Management Services (KTM) Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Silver Heritage, will run the operations.

In the filing to the Australian Securities Exchange, the Silver Heritage Group Ltd. declared that the company has received sanction by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation of Nepal. The filing also confirmed that Tiger Palace is now fully open and is set to host its first major event on New Year’s Eve 2018, on December 31, 2017.

Earlier this month, the group had said that it has to pay an “initial casino licence fee of NPR20 million (approximately US$194,000), and the casino royalty fee of NPR30 million (approximately US$291,000) for the Nepal fiscal year, in accordance with the Nepal casino regulations, for obtaining the casino licence. In September, a soft opening of the property’s hotel facilities took place.

Mike Bolsover, managing director and chief executive of Silver Heritage, expressed gratitude towards people involved in designing, developing, building, completing, and finally opening Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa. He added that the future of the company, the people of Nepal and tourism sector in the country is bright.

The group also runs the Millionaire’s Club and Casino in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, and the Phoenix International Club in Vietnam.

The first casino in Nepal opened in 1968. It is one of the few countries in South Asia to have casino operations. Currently, there are eight casinos across the country. They are Casino Anna, Casino Everest, Casino Nepal, Casino Rad, Casino Royale, Casino Shangri La, Hyatt Regency Kathmandu and Tara Casino and Casino Pokhara.

The natives of Nepal are prohibited from playing in the country’s casinos, and only foreign tourists can play at the casinos.