Indians in Italy

Indians in Italy comprise the third largest population of Indians in Europe. Although Italy and India have maintained important relations since ancient times, significant Indian migration to Italy is a recent phenomenon. Many Indians began immigrating to Italy in the early 1990s, when the Italian government initiated programs to get Indian IT professionals and engineers to contribute to the technology sector in Italy. Most Indian immigrants came to Italy legally.

Many immigrants came from Punjab as entrepreneurs active in the restaurant and retail fields associated with Italy's large tourism industry. About half of the total Indian migrant population in Italy lives in the central and northern regions of the country, especially in Rome and Milan. Lombardy hosts the most important Indian community with 47,743 people.

The Indian community has integrated successfully into Italian life, and local authorities and people are impressed with their contributions to the Italian economy. They have been found to be generally very industrious, business-minded, entrepreneurial and law-abiding.

Most Indians have retained their religious practices, mainly Hinduism, Ravidassia and Sikhism. There are numerous temples and gurdwaras as well as ISKCON centres. There are also many Christians from Kerala.

According to the research paper of the European University Institute, Fiesole, Italy, the Ravidassia community is the second largest group of Indian diaspora in Italy. The Ravidassia community's migration starts in the early 80s, and currently the community is operating 18 Guru Ravidass temples throughout Italy. But due to the lack of recognized independent religious identity by the Italian government, the local Italian community leaders assume Ravidasias are Hindu or Sikh.