The City of Melbourne is looking to establish a Little India precinct in Docklands to drive business and activity the waterfront neighbourhood. The plan is was an election pledge from Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece, and is contained in the council’s draft 2025-2026 Budget.
Around 13 per cent of Docklands residents are of Indian descent, and across greater Melbourne, the Indian community is the second-largest diaspora. In 2022, more international students from India studied in Victoria than from any other country.
In October last year, Docklands was the stage for Melbourne’s biggest Diwali celebration to date, with more than 20,000 people filling Marvel Stadium’s new Town Square precinct.
At the time, the Lord Mayor declared his ambition for Diwali to become the largest cultural event in Australia, backing the vision with a record $1 million commitment to support cultural programming across the city.
This initiative builds on the recent establishment of Koreatown in the CBD – with grand traditional Korean totem poles, or jang seung, to be unveiled this weekend at the entrances to the precinct.
