1. Balancing profit-making with the burdens it is imposing on society and the benefits it can deliver to society
2. The entrepreneur is solving problems, that are not uniquely Indian, but the scale is Indian.
Aravind Eye Hospital, established in 1976 in Tamil Nadu by the visionary Dr G. Venkataswamy (popularly called Dr V), is an excellent example of such blending. Over the last 40 years, it has performed millions of screening tests and hundreds of thousands of cataract surgeries. The unique business model draws on a for-fee model to fund its free services. The problem of eye care is not uniquely Indian, but the scale of the problem is definitely Indian. And Aravind Eye Hospital’s business model makes the solution for eye care a typically Indian blend of the Promethean and Gandhian models.
A characteristically Indian model would be one that alongside profit-making considers the burdens it is imposing on society and the benefits it can deliver to society. It is a tough ask, and it is individually negotiated with each entrepreneur finding his or her own balance through self-scrutiny is the one who will be truly free and capable of innovation.
