Though religion forbids them from investing in the equity market or banks, nearly 10 per cent of the one crore population in this region, has shown interest in where and how to invest. Till date, the high trade volumes of Rajkot has registered negligible investment from Muslims — less than one per cent of its total transactions. But the booming share market will soon change all that.

It has come to light that Shia and Sunni Muslims of the Saurashtra-Kutch region are ready to cash in. CEO of Parsolin Corporation Limited (PCL) Sayed Sareshwala said, “We hope to register more than 1,500 delegates for the Islamic Investment Conference to be held in Rajkot on February 10.”

This Ahmedabad-based share and brokerage firm has been aggressively promoting Islamic investment to bring in more Muslim investors, who so far have largely kept to real estate. The conference will be addressed by Shariah board members, including Mufti Abdul Qayyam, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and top officials of PCL.

After the recent success in Ahmedabad, PCL hopes to introduce the Shariah-compliant model, which filters out stocks of companies that are in liquor, entertainment and news channels. The Shariah bans Muslims investing in companies that deal in alcohol, amusement and entertainment among others. PCL, which is among the three Muslim brokers registered on BSE and the only one from Gujarat, has shortlisted around 300 companies which fall in the category of the Shariah-compliant model.

PCL’s manager in Rajkot B Dihan said, “A large number of entries for this conference are from rural areas like Dhoraji, Upleta, Morbi, Wankaber and several talukas of Kutch. Majority of these people do not even have a bank account.” The firm, which was established in Rajkot nine months ago, has opened sub branches in remote rural areas like Savarkundla in Amreli district.

The PSL is anticipating a strong participation from women too. Dihan said, “We have reserved the balcony of the venue at Hemu Gadhvi Hall for women.”

Zafar Sareshwala, also a CEO at PCL, established the ‘Islamic Investment’ model following the riots of 2002 when real estate owned by Muslims was targeted. The idea of a ‘safe and secure investment’ attracted many Muslims from Ahmedabad when the model was introduced in 2005. At the end of the year, against negligible trading in the past, their investment registered a volume of Rs 300 crore, which, according to PSL, is growing by 150 per cent every year. Through the model, PCL has also tried to bring Muslim investors from Srinagar, Hyderabad and Mumbai. After Rajkot, the PCL has Surat and Vadodara on its map.