Indiana India Business Council celebrates annual Indiana India Gala

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Wednesday was a night of great food, entertainment and celebrations at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in downtown Indianapolis.

“Dance, entertainment, culture. It’s all coming together and celebrating a night together,” said founder Raju Chinthala.

Chinthala started the Indiana India Business Council in 2016. Since then, the number of Indian-owned businesses have grown exponentially in Indiana.

“There are a lot of Indians that live in Central Indiana. We have more than 15,000 families living in Indiana. So these are small businesses, if they need something, advice or guidance, or having issues, they come to us,” Chinthala said.

The gala honored the work of the organization, and the people who support the group. The event also gave people an opportunity to network.

“The fact that you have business leaders within Indiana and Indianapolis that are actively holding a strong U.S.-India relationship, also specifically and strong India-Indiana relationship, to me that was incredible to see,” said Ravi Kapur who owns Diya TV, which you can watch on WISH-TV Channel 8.4.

Diya TV provides entertainment and news for a vast Indian population in Indiana. Kapur said, “This community has responded to Diya TV, to WISH-TV. I can’t tell you the data we get. I feel like this is our No. 1 affiliate in the country, and we broadcast in New York, in L.A., in Chicago.”

Bharath Patel is on the Indiana India Business Council board. He’s also the president and chief executive officer of Sun Cos. in Indianapolis. He says, without the work of the council, there are several companies that would not be in Indiana.

“Single biggest thing that happened with IIBC was Infosys. They had a lot of places to go, Raleigh, Boston, other places. We ended up landing them here. That’s because IIBC,” Patel said.