India Republic Day report is a celebration of Indians who have made a mark in the UAE through their professional and personal lives. We have been featuring companies and personalities that have stayed in this part of the world long enough to call the UAE their spiritual home but haven't lost touch with their roots in India. One such name is Dr Nowhera Shaik Founder and CEO of Heera Group.

Dr Nowhera is a dedicated Human Rights activist and an Islamic Scholar who spends most of her time money and energy for charity and upliftment of women. As the force behind the Heera Group which started its operations in 1998 the charitable educational institution has grown into a consortium of 20 companies with operations in five countries and business presence in over 50.

Today the group has interests in high-quality food products investment banking gold trading jewellery retail textiles building materials travel and tourism e-commerce etc.

What really makes the Heera Group unique is its steadfast commitment to Islamic values and principles. All of its business verticals maintain a fine balance between religious doctrine and corporate fundamentals through its 'interest-free' model even the investment banking division of the group.

In a short span of time Dr Nowhera and the Heera Group have earned the respect and admiration from people across different sections of societies and countries for their innovative principle-based business practices and associated philanthropic initiatives.

Early life and education

Dr Nowhera was born to Shaik Nanne Saheb and Shaik Bilkis. She started supporting her father in his business activities at an early age and along the way learnt the ropes and nuances of the corporate world. Her grandfather Shaikh Kolkar Madaar Saheb was also a successful businessman with interests in transportation industry and wholesale business in vegetables fruits and textile products across the country. Her parents and grandparents ensured that the family adhered to religious doctrines that the children in the house imbibe these values and acquire good education in general academics. Thus Dr Nowhera inherited a highly spiritual and cultural background with a good level of business proficiency.

Despite being raised in a well-to-do environment Dr Nowhera was always sensitive to the needs of marginalised people in society especially girls from poor households who were denied the right to education. At the young age of 19 Dr Nowhera started a school in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh to educate young girls and make them aware of their rights while living their lives under the guidance and principles of the Holy Quran. Initially the school had six girls and over time increased to about 300. Dr Nowhera then became the trustee of the Ismail Educational Trust which provides academic and religious education to more than 1000 girls.

Most expenses in these schools were met by donations and Dr Nowhera's personal account. However the burgeoning cost of running the school soon overshot the income and prompted Dr Nowhera to start her own business venture to fund the expenses of running the schools. Today she runs such schools in Mumbai Surat Belapur and other regions.

Meteoric rise

Dr Nowhera started with gold exports and imports under the name of Heera Gold Exports and Imports. The sole objective of the venture was to support the education of the underprivileged and meet the costs of their books and uniforms apart from boarding and lodging. In a short span Dr Nowhera's professional acuity and leadership led to the diversification and expansion into many territories. She started many more enterprises under the banner of the Heera Group of Companies which is now a consortium of 20 companies dealing in diverse fields like food exports and supplies gold investment textile jewellery mineral water granite tours and travels real estate electronics Hajj and Umrah services e-commerce etc.

Notably all her businesses are run as 'interest-free' enterprises and all transactions of the group conform to Shariah doctrines. Today the Heera Group is present in India the UAE China Saudi Arabia Ghana and Canada.

Major significant ventures of the Group in the UAE Heera Gold Trading - DMCC Heera Foodex and Heeradeals.com operate in a highly competitive environment and have managed to gain high customer loyalty due to their quality and value-added services.

Businesses in the UAE

Heera Foodex exports and imports high-quality food items all over the world and distributes them across the Middle East and India in a highly efficient manner. It is now available in all major supermarket chains in the UAE and other GCC countries. State-of-the-art storage facilities including temperature-controlled enclosures and a large fleet of transport vehicles ensure high quality and fast deliveries to customers.

Values and ethics

Dr Nowhera stands out from the crowd because of her personality strong commitment to Islamic values and her unrelenting zest for charitable activities. She is always striving for opportunities to address humanitarian needs without compromising on her beliefs and principles.

As president of the reputed Muslim women's organisation At-Tawheed International Dawah Centre for Women she supports a great number of poor and downtrodden women by engaging in multiple charitable activities such as sponsoring education arranging marriages health camps etc. The organisation has chapters in different cities of India and the Middle East.

She also started a 'Mobile Clinic' that provides medical services to almost a million people and patients receive medicine at their doorsteps. The Group is also building a 300-bed multi-speciality hospital.

Dr Nowhera has pioneered the process of transacting business in an Islamic way and establishes business enterprises that can be made an instrument for carrying out social activities supporting charity work.

Heera Group is headquartered in Hyderabad AP India and has a Corporate Office in Dubai.

For more information visit: www.heeraworldwide.com

Repertoire

Founder and President Jamia Niswan As-Salafia Tirupati India

Secretary of Women's Helpline India

President of At-Tawheed International Dawah Centre for women

Trustee and Vice-President of Ismail Educational Trust

Vice-President of the women's wing of the International Human Rights Association - India

Awards and accomplishments

Won the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award

Awardee of the Business Leadership Award by the Indian Economic and Research Development association for industrial development and achievements as a sole Muslim woman

Recipient of The Good Business Award from Emirates Gold

Received the Best Client Award from ICICI Bank

Diversified interests

High-quality food products

Investment banking

Gold trading

Jewellery retail

Textiles

Building materials

Travel and tourism