Melbourne to spend $1.2m to establish ‘Little India’ in city centre

Melbourne council will spend $1.2 million establishing a “Little India” that it hopes will become a “leading cultural precinct” in the city centre.

The new Indian zone will be created in Docklands, which was chosen after the City of Melbourne spent $150,000 on a scoping study to identify a site as part of efforts to put “Little India on the map”.

A Little India had been in the works since 2019, but council struggled to find a natural location as Indian businesses are spready across the municipality, which includes the CBD and several inner-city suburbs.

Melbourne already has a Chinatown and a Koreatown, both based around clusters of restaurants and businesses established by immigrants from the two countries in the CBD, and there is a Little India Cultural Precinct next to Dandenong Railway Station in the city’s southeast.

City of Melbourne Creative and Arts portfolio head Councillor Philip Le Liu told the Herald Sun council was “taking big steps to make Little India a reality” and that it was part of a wider investment in culture and events.

The council will spend another $26 million in its latest budget on major events such as Moomba, Melbourne Fashion Week and New Year’s Eve, $2 million on a “Light Up Melbourne” project, and $4.5 million on public art projects including a Stolen Generations (sic) Market.

The budget, to be officially released on Tuesday, will also include $4.2 million for arts grants, $2.6 million to upgrade banner poles, $420,000 for new City Square Christmas decorations, $250,000 for a new multicultural events stream, and $200,000 on business precinct revitalisation.

Public consultation on the $40 million package will be held from March 31 to April 28.

Mayor Nick Reece said the Light Up Melbourne project would  “secure Melbourne’s status as a night-time capital and create a major visitor drawcard”.

“We’re uplifting our streets, strengthening our cultural precincts and creating a city that feels brighter, safer and more vibrant for everyone,” he said.

Header image: Left, Mayor Nick Reece celebrating Diwali. Right, a Diwali event in Melbourne (City of Melbourne).

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