Fact-Check: SBI's Sharia Fund Is Available Pan-India, Not Only in Kerala

An executive from the SBI Malappuram branch in Kerala confirmed to us that the Sharia fund scheme was country-wide.

Fact-Check: The scheme applies all over the country and not limited to Kerala. 

(Source: The Quint) 

Amid the ongoing conversations over the newly released electoral bonds data, a social media post has claimed that the State Bank of India (SBI) started an investment scheme in compliance with Sharia law in Malappuram, Kerala.

What have users said?: Those sharing the post added a communal colour to these claims by writing things such as that there was an "Islamic stronghold" in Malappuram.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(X/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here, here and here.)

Is this true?: The claim is misleading as the scheme is nationwide and not specific to Kerala.

• An SBI executive confirmed to The Quint that the scheme was started in 2014 and is applicable across the country.

How did we find out?: At first, we ran a relevant keyword search and found news reports from 2014 about the Sharia Fund scheme of the SBI.

• The Economic Times and Live Mint's stories from 2014 revealed that a diversified equity fund which complies with Shariah principles will be launched. ET wrote that the fund aimed to attract investments from the sizeable Muslim population in the country.

• None of these reports mentioned that the scheme would be limited to Kerala or Malappuram areas in India.

Confirmation from SBI: We reached out to the Malappuram branch via the numbers mentioned on the viral post.

There, we spoke to Sanjith, an executive at the branch, who confirmed to The Quint that the scheme was applicable across India and was not limited to the state.

To verify further, we ran another keyword search to learn more about the scheme and came across the guidelines produced by the SBI about the Sharia Equity Fund.

• Nowhere in the guidelines does it mention that the scheme was only applicable in Kerala.

What is the scheme about?: It is an "open-ended equity scheme." The scheme aims to generate capital gains over a medium to long-term period by investing in equity and equity-related instruments that comply with Sharia principles.

• It also read, "The Shariah-compliant stocks are the stocks which adhere to Shariah principles i.e. religious beliefs and financial ratios." (sic.)

• The scheme excludes sectors and areas from investment which are against Islamic beliefs, for example, alcohol, gambling etc.

Here is a preview of the scheme. 

(Source: SBI/Screenshot)

Conclusion: Clearly, social media users have claimed that SBI's Sharia equity scheme only applies to Kerala with a false communal colour.

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