IslamicFinance.de

India's Ministry of Minority Affairs has enlisted a Kuala Lumpur-based body to help develop Islamic endowments, or awqaf, aiming to mobilise a large pool of assets in the country. India, with an estimated 177 million Muslims, has a large base of awqaf but many of their assets are far from being employed efficiently; their estimated annual income is just 1.63 billion rupees ($26.3 million). The World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation will hold a roundtable later this year to discuss ways to improve management of India's estimated 490,000 waqf properties. However, efforts to strengthen Islamic finance in India have in the past met strong opposition from bureaucrats in the finance ministry and banking circles.