Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus asked the Indian industry on Tuesday to get into micro-finance activities and the government to enable a legal framework for promotion of 'social business' in the country.

"Corporate houses should take up social business initiatives that aim at serving the poor through a non-loss, non-dividend business," the chief architect of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh said, adding that this model should not be misunderstood as philanthropy.

He also mooted a 'social stock market' to list companies that are engaged in businesses in the social sector. Such a market would allow people to pick and invest in firms involved in the social development field.

Since these businesses would be working on a non-loss, non-dividend basis, investors should not expect any monetary dividend, he said.

A similar concept failed in Brazil because investors misunderstood it and took it for a fund raising activity, he said, adding that social businesses should be treated like any other business activity but without profit or loss involved.

Yunus, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, said the micro-finance concept in vogue in Bangladesh could also work for India, as it involved people who are the same everywhere.

"If you are serious it would happen," he said. At present, over 100 million people have benefited from micro-finance across the world. Half of the beneficiaries lived in India (34 million) and Bangladesh (16 million).

"Micro-finance is nothing but small loans extended to entrepreneurs, especially in rural areas, to help them set up businesses and earn a decent income."