Victoria's Chief Police Commissioner, Simon Overland, has revealed police have known for more than two years that crime against Indians was a real issue and some attacks were racially motivated.

The comments come in the wake of the stabbing death of Indian graduate Nitin Gharg in Melbourne's west, and the latest incident in which an Indian taxi driver was assaulted by a passenger at Reservoir last weekend.

Commissioner Overland says a comprehensive police study of the violence shows about 50 per cent of attacks have been carried out on Indians working in the taxi industry and convenience stores, and that Indians were over-represented when it came to robberies, but not assaults.

"We recognised this problem a long time before it hit the public," he said.

"We've known for over two years that there's been this issue; we've been working away at it.

"I have said from day one undoubtedly some of these attacks have a racist motive or there's racist elements to the attacks, there is no question of that - but not all of them."

Commissioner Overland says police have been tackling the problem.

"We've been working at a number of levels: engaging with students trying to help them understand the risks and how they keep themselves safe; working with education providers; working with the rest of the community; we've had stronger enforcement," he said.

He said stronger enforcement had lead to a 7 per cent fall in robberies, with some offenders going before the courts.

Meanwhile the Indian government has condemned the latest attack on an Indian in Melbourne.

A man has been charged with intentionally causing injury after the attack on an Indian taxi driver at Reservoir, in Melbourne's east last weekend.

The 30-year-old Reservoir man has been released on bail to face court in March.

India's external affairs minister, SM Krishna, says the latest attack is unfortunate and will affect bilateral ties with Australia.

The Indian government has asked its High Commission in Canberra to provide a detailed report on the attack, during which the driver was punched in the head.

Indian ministers have made repeated requests to their Australian counterparts to take action to stop violence against Indians in Australia.

The series of attacks has generated public anger and widespread media coverage in India, where Australian officials have been accused of failing to deal with the problem.