Hi Vibhi,A chapter is not a goal in itself, it is more of a tool to facilitate activities that require a legal body to perform them.Therefore, I would encourage you to collect those 20 people around you and start having meetups, little outreach events and so on. Once you feel, that you need a legal body, or money, your needs would very likely be met by the current legal bodies in the country.Obviously, it might turn out to make the most sense to establish local branches, but these probably would not be independent from the local Indian chapter already existing.In sum, I encourage you to be active and cooperate with the existing communities in India to make the most of the multitude of possibilities and the huge potential in community building and outreach. Setting up a new independent Indian chapter at this point is probably not desirable, and would probably not be approved by the WMF.
So, you have some interested Wikimedians, and you have some basic idea about the kinds of activities your group would want to have as an officially recognized Wikimedia Chapter.
This is a perfect time to run a pilot program, which will give your group a concrete experience with running Wikimedian activities/events, strengthen the group's internal cohesion, increase motivation, and potentially draw in additional activists.
Here's a little secret: Nearly all activities and programs performed by chapters can be performed by non-chapters. Aside from fundraising and certain types of government outreach, any group of Wikimedians with the will and dedication to execute a program can do so, and the Wikimedia movement has some resources in place to help you do so:
The Wikimedia Foundation can grant you ad-hoc permission to use the Wikimedia trademarks (i.e. Wikipedia logo, Wikimedia logo) in your specific event/activity; the Foundation can provide funding for your program if required, via the Wikimedia Grants Program; other Wikimedia chapters can offer funding, advice, and other intangible resources.
So pick a program you'd like to run in your community or territory, making sure the scope is manageable and achievable for your group and your resources (especially human resources, i.e. time and skills!), before proceeding with the legal aspects of chapter creation.
The Chapters Committee and the Wikimedia Board of Trustees are more likely to feel confident about your group's suitability to become the exclusive formal representative of the Wikimedia movement in your territory if your group can show at least one success in organizing Wikimedian work.
One example of a non-chapter group running a pilot program is the group of Wikimedians in Kenya and their school outreach program.
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