The NRI Institute celebrated 20 years of its inception on 9 January 2010 at Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi. The grand celebrations coincided with NRI Institute Pravasi Divas 2010. The event was inaugurated by Hon'ble Sam Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations. The Chief Guest for the evening was Shri Shashi Tharoor, Union Minister of State for External Affairs. The Guests of Honour included Dr Justice A R Lakshmanan, Sir Judge Mota Singh, Dr. Shan Nair, founder – Nair & Co., Dr Ruby Dhalla MP Canada, Lord Karan Bilimoria UK, Baroness Sandip Verma, UK, H E Mookesswur Choonee, High Commissioner of Mauritius to India, Hon'ble Dr Lenny Saith, Minister in Office of Prime Minister, Trinidad & Tobago, Mohammad Sabih Bukhari, Satco International, Doha and Shri Tarlochan Singh MP. More than 250 high profile People of Indian Origin from the various parts of the world attended the event. Mauritius was the partner country and the event was organized in association with GOPIO International, Mauritius.

Addressing the august gathering, Shri Shashi Tharoor congratulated the NRIs for playing an important role in India's growth story and said that the present government is pro-active in NRI affairs. The fact that the government is proposing to include NRIs with Indian passports in the election process is an assurance that they are very much a part of India. He applauded and agreed with Dr Rami Ranger's remark on NRIs as 'National Reserve of India' and extended his gratitude for the overwhelming support the community extends to India. Terming the NRIs as people who Never Relinquished India, Shashi Tharoor signed off by inviting the NRIs to come back to their country not only once a year but more often as their presence and contribution is a big motivation for the nation. The esteemed panel on the dias pondered and discussed on important issues related to NRIs and PIO. While Baroness Sandip Verma stressed on a more women oriented issue by drawing the attention to Dr Ruby Dhalla and herself as the only women speakers for the evening and added that she would be delighted to see more women NRIs in the same place next year.

The NRI Achievers Magazine was launched in the hands of Shri Shashi Tharoor in the presence of Shri Sam Pitroda, Dr Justice A R Lakshmanan, Lord Karan Bilimoria and Baroness Sandip Verma and Tarlochan Singh MP. Later in the evening, a select group of achievers were honoured with Bharat Samman Pravasi Award 2009 including Dr Ruby Dhalla, Lord Karan Bilimoria, Dr Rami Ranger, R Seetharaman, Dr Shan Nair and others. The awards were conferred by Shri Shashi Tharoor and Shri Sam Pitroda.

The next day on 10 January, an interactive session was organized by Gopio International at Le Meridien Hotel, New Delhi. The session was attended by Shri Vayalar Ravi, Union Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs. In the evening, the British High Commissioner to India Sir Richard Stagg hosted a reception in honour of the delegates of NRI Institute at his residence. The prominent personalities who attended the grand reception included Sir Judge Mota Singh, who was recently Knighted by the Queen, Lord Karan Bilimora, Dr Shan Nair, Baroness Sandip Verma, Lord Rana, Shovana Narayan, Satish Gujral, Jawaharlal Gupta and others.