Newly-appointed Jammu and Kashmir bank chairman Parvez Ahmad on Monday said that the state government-controlled lender was ready to offer Islamic banking, if the Reserve Bank of India approved the move.
Ahmad told a press conference that there was a strong demand for such banking service in Kashmir but RBI would need to examine the proposal. “We have not given a serious thought to it, but there is a lot of demand for Islamic banking in the state. We will examine the proposal and we have to also take RBI on board,” he said. Currently , there are no guidelines for Islamic banking, which is based on the principles of not charging interest, something that is prohibited under Islam.