Wellington, Aug 18 (IANS): A researcher has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Asia New Zealand Foundation to study the Anglo-Indian diaspora in New Zealand, a media report said on Tuesday.

"Anglo-Indians, an Indian minority community, have been migrating to New Zealand since at least the early 20th century, yet they continue to be almost entirely overlooked in accounts of 'Indians' in New Zealand," Scoop Independent News quoted social anthropologist Robyn Andrews as saying.

Andrews' research project, "The invisible Indian: The Anglo-India Diaspora in New Zealand", seeks to contact as many Anglo-Indians in New Zealand as possible to build up a picture of this Indian minority.

Andrews from Massey University's School of People, Environment and Planning said that although only 327 New Zealanders were identified as Anglo-Indian in the 2013 census, there are likely to be many more.

"Some may not even know they have Anglo-Indian origin, or they may choose to identify as New Zealander rather than Indian," she added.

Andrews is also the author of "Christmas in Calcutta", a book of Anglo-Indian stories, memoirs and essays that portray the diverse lives and socio-economic positions of the Anglo-Indian community in Kolkata.