A study on Islamic finance as an approach for financial inclusion in India

Abstract

This paper endeavors to investigate whether the Islamic financial system can tackle the issue of financial exclusion in India or not. The present study has made an earnest attempt to explore the discriminating factors behind choosing of the institutes (conventional or Islamic), in decreasing order of their importance. Data for the study are collected from 635 respondents, who are customers of Islamic and traditional financial institutes. The area selected for the survey is the state of Kerala, which is considered as the Islamic finance hub in India. The data collected are analyzed by employing the discriminant analysis along with drawing inferences from descriptive statistics. The study finds various factors in descending order of their importance. The factors are type of employment, religion (Muslim/Non-Muslim), income and gender. These are discriminating factors for choosing particular institutes (conventional or Islamic). The study shows that Islamic finance system was chosen by those, particularly Muslims, who did not have good employment and sufficient income. Hence, it is recommended that extensive formal beginning of Islamic finance in India, will lead to higher financial inclusion, since generally the financially excluded individuals belong to the said segments of the society, furthermore, Islamic finance is highly fascinated by the mentioned groups, the planners should think accordingly. The study is novel in its’ approach as it evidently illustrates that Islamic financial system is chosen by those, who do not have good employment, Muslims and those who earn less. Thus, there should be extensive formal commencement of Islamic finance in India to kick off higher financial inclusion.