Then-Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, assigned the task to create India’s first amusement park to International Amusement Ltd. (IAL) headed by Narinder Malik, a Sweden based NRI and Gian Vijeshwar, another Sweden-based NRI with an aim to provide free access to underprivileged children. It was inaugurated on 19 November 1984 by Rajiv Gandhi then Indian Prime Minister, after his mother Indira Gandhi's assassination on the occasion of her birthday, this was his first public appearance. Appu Ghar quickly became a crowd puller for the residents of the Indian capital as well as those of neighbouring towns.