Question:

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

Vaatsalya Healthcare is one among a rapidly spreading group of "for profit" social enterprises that serve the poor and still bring in profit. Mumbai based Ziqitza, an ambulance services company, is another; it never refuses a patient for lack of money and charges only Rs. 50 to Rs. 200. Entrepreneurial minds with a social conscience are now building such models at a much faster pace than before. Varun Sahni, country director of Acumen Fund, a US based social fund that invests in companies targeting low income communities, says there has been a boom in such enterprises over the past two years, with about 1,000 of them now operating in India. These enterprises work across healthcare, education, rural energy, agriculture, arts and crafts, banking and more. "For profit" entrepreneurs care about social and environmental impact along with financial returns, and because they are answerable to investors, they try to expand the business rapidly. SKS Microfinance, for instance, started in 1998 and now has over 900,000 customers, 440 branches and an outstanding loan disbursement of over Rs. 452 crore as of August 2007.

According to the author, which of the following options describes "for profit" entrepreneurs most appropriately?

Show Hint

Match the options against the passage's own line about financial returns and rapid expansion.
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
  • NRIs paying back to their motherland
  • Those affluent, middle-class professionals treating it as charity
  • Those who work towards getting financial returns on social business by expanding quickly
  • Those who have sympathetic investors for their business ideas for the poor
Show Solution
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The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
We need to pick the option that matches the author's own description of "for profit" entrepreneurs, not a general guess about what such people might be like.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Find the exact sentence in the passage that defines these entrepreneurs, then match its wording against each option instead of relying on outside assumptions.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
The passage states plainly: "'For profit' entrepreneurs are obsessed with social and environmental impact in addition to the financial returns. Since they are answerable to the investors, they try expanding the business rapidly."
Option A talks about NRIs paying back to their motherland, which the passage never mentions at all, so it does not apply.
Option B calls them affluent professionals doing charity, but the passage explicitly separates this model from charity with the line "Mere charity by an affluent, middle-class professional? Far from it." This is the opposite of what the passage says.
Option C says these are people who work towards financial returns on a social business by expanding quickly, which lines up word for word with "financial returns" and "expanding the business rapidly" in the passage.
Option D focuses on having sympathetic investors, but the passage says these entrepreneurs are answerable to investors, not simply supported by sympathetic ones, so this misses the point.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Only option C matches the passage's own definition, seeking financial returns while expanding the business quickly. \[ \boxed{\text{Option C}} \]
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