With an assembly line approach, an Indian hospital chain performs 250,000 eye surgeries a year

Every year, Aravind Eye Hospital performs around 250,000 cataract surgeries, most of them for free or what the hospital chain refers to as “zero price,” in an attempt to treat every patient as a customer, regardless of their ability to pay. At a time when a staggering 13 million Indians were blind, Aravind's founder saw an opportunity to supplement the government’s efforts to increase the availability of eye-care services, and potentially eradicate preventable blindness.