Goa’s chief minister is defending the Indian state’s floating casino operations as a boon for the local economy even as he blames the opposition party for authorizing casinos in the first place.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar (pictured) fielded opposition legislators’ questions on the always controversial topic of the state’s ‘offshore’ casinos. In addition to the six casinos currently floating on the Mandovi river, there are around 10 land-based casinos operating out of local hotels.

In a written reply to a Congress party MLA’s question regarding what effect these casinos may have had on local crime, Parrikar cited data showing that the state’s crime rate had fallen for three consecutive years, from 4,467 cases in 2014 to 2,693 in 2016.

Over the same period, Parrikar noted that the state’s share of casino revenue had more than doubled, from Rs 78.6 crore (US $12.2m) in fiscal 2014-15, rising to Rs 86 crore in 2015-16, then soaring to Rs 162 crore ($25.2m) in 2016-17.