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Sydney’s India-born population has driven a spike in business creation in the city’s west and north-west as members of that community founded more than half of all new firms across much of that region last year.
The Indian diaspora made up a disproportionate share of new business founders in NSW during 2025 according to the Lawpath New Business Index, which tracks company registrations.
It shows one in five of the state’s business registrations (19 per cent) in that period were made by those born in India, which is six times that group’s share of the NSW population (about 3 per cent). That ranked India as the second most common country of birth for NSW business founders after those born in Australia.
But across Parramatta, Blacktown, The Hills and Penrith council areas, which together cover much of west and north-west Sydney, the Indian-born share of business founders was 56 per cent (Australian-born founders were next highest on 16 per cent).
The four most common family names for new business registrations in Parramatta, Blacktown, The Hills and Penrith council areas were Singh, Patel, Kaur and Sharma – all of Asian subcontinent origin. The surname Smith – traditionally Australia’s most common – was ranked 16th.
Pragna Bhavsar is one of western Sydney’s Indian-born entrepreneurs; she and her husband Sahil own Chit Chaat Co, a catering firm offering “modern Indian fusion” cuisine. The 28-year-old quit her job in HR about a year ago and works full-time at the business based in Westmead, near Parramatta.
“We do at least five to 10 events every week that could be for about 20 to over 100 people,” Bhavsar said.
The company has a range of clients, including corporates, but Bhavsar said they chose to locate in western Sydney to be near the region’s growing South Asian origin community.
“We saw an opportunity to expand our business by having a presence there,” she said.
Bhavsar, who moved to Australia with her parents in 2011, says strong networks within western Sydney’s South Asian community are beneficial to small businesses like hers.
“It’s like you’re all growing together,” she said.
Lawpath co-founder Tom Willis said the high share of Indian-born business founders across western and north-western Sydney was a “clear signal of disproportionate entrepreneurial activity” in that diaspora community.
Willis said Indian-born entrepreneurs were starting businesses in a mix of sectors including food, hospitality, professional services, web-based services and digital marketing.
“They’re responding to where they see opportunities and sometimes that’s actually servicing the diaspora communities they are part of,” he said.
Australia’s Indian-origin community has grown rapidly during the past 20 years and now numbers about 1 million people. More than one-third of residents in the suburb of Parramatta and some surrounding neighbourhoods were born in India. There is also a large Indian diaspora population in Sydney’s north-western suburbs including Schofields, The Ponds and Marsden Park.
Jai Patel, who leads KPMG’s India Business Practice, said a strong sense of community among the Indian diaspora in western Sydney has provided support for entrepreneurs and opportunities for business partnerships.
“A high-energy business ecosystem has emerged among the Indian diaspora driven by deep social connections and entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.
Patel said starting a business can be an important pathway for new migrants to become established in Australia.
“Cracking that first job without Australian experience can be difficult so, for many, creating a new business can be a better way to go,” he said.
Indian-born entrepreneurs have helped facilitate growing trade and investment links between western Sydney and India, Asia’s third-biggest economy.
“The diaspora also naturally provides a human bridge into the vast Indian market across sectors,” Patel said.
The wave of new business registrations by Indian-born founders is part of a broader upswing in entrepreneurial activity in west and north-west Sydney.
In the Parramatta council area just under 30,000 new businesses were registered in 2025, a 35 per cent increase on the previous year. Growth was even stronger in Blacktown council; 21,674 new firms were registered last year, up 48 per cent compared to 2024.
Lawpath’s research reveals strong growth in new business registrations across Australia during the past two years. Willis said a desire to bolster household finances was one likely driver of this trend.
“In a period marked by cost of living pressures, elevated interest rates, and modest wage growth, many Australians are turning to business activity to create income flexibility,” he said.
The Lawpath New Business Index uses government data on new business registrations along with its own anonymised data about tens of thousands of business founders.
Matt Wade is a senior economics writer at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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