By Rehan Ansari, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange along with Taqwaa Advisory and Shariah Investment Solutions (P) Ltd. (TASIS), on Monday, launched a Sharia Index with 50 Sharia compliant companies within the BSE 500 that will be known as BSE TASIS Sharia 50.
These 50 companies are the most liquid ones and are strictly adhering to Islamic Shariah norms and that is to stay away from Interest or the sale of alcohol, tobacco and other prohibited goods.
Dr. Sharique Nisar
Dr. Sharique Nisar, Director of TASIS said: “BSE has the largest number of Shariah Compliant companies in the world, in fact more than the whole Middle East and Pakistan.”
There are many Shariah compliant brokerage houses like Parsoli and Idafa but a Shariah Index with the leading stock exchange in India is a great achievement. Dr. Sharique Nisar said, “Islamic Finance of which Shariah Index is a part is a trillion dollar plus Industry. It will provide Muslims in India an opportunity for Halal investment in Shares and will bring in thousands of crores of rupees from the gulf and other parts of the world.”
The managing director and chief executive of the Bombay Stock Exchange, Madhu Kannan, said, “The index would attract Islamic and other “socially responsible” investors both in India and overseas and therefore it’s an inclusive step in nature.”
Several studies have found that the majority of India’s 160 million Muslims have been excluded from the country’s formal financial sector due to the restrictions imposed by Islamic law and therefore their saving ratio is minimal.
According to its website, TASIS was “founded by a group of finance and investment professionals for providing guidance and support to individuals and corporates having an interest in the nascent but highly potential Islamic finance industry in India. As the name suggests, it is an organization providing Shariah advisory and investment solutions in India, while operating within the Indian legal framework.”
The real issue now seems to be the publicity of this fund and make people understand about the functioning of this index. Dr. Sharique added, “We will be organizing a programme in BSE on 6th January, 2010.
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