So many invasive plants have been deliberately introduced as ornamentals, and Indian lotus now follows this path. This attractive alien water plant produces showy peltate orbicular leaves to 60 cm in diameter and more. Its flowers are some 25 cm in diameter, the number of stamens is about 1-2 hundred... It has been deliberately introduced to some ponds in Massachusetts.
A note describes the fight with this plant in a natural area in Rhode Island: http://www.dem.ri.gov/: "The invasive aquatic plant was illegally transplanted into [Meshanticut Pond in Cranston] in 2014 and has grown considerably each year, covering approximately one-quarter of the 12-acre pond in just ten years. Despite DEM treating the plant with permitted herbicides in 2020 and 2021 to manage its growth, the stubborn and aggressive plant has continued to persist and spread over the pond. After a few hours of effort, 3% of the three-acre lotus population was removed by the class of 20 [University of Rhode Island] students and placed into 96 yard waste bags to be removed off site."