At a time when the country led by the current leadership is pushing for ‘Made in India’ products, a manufacturing division of a leading eye care hospital based in Madurai is silently taking the dream to a global level.
Aurolab, a manufacturing division of the Aravind Eye Hospital, by producing a wide range of high-quality, affordable ophthalmic products for eye care professionals worldwide, is already realising the dream of Made in India for the world, say forerunners of the institute.
The vision of a single man G. Venkataswamy, the founder of Aravind Eye Hospital in 1992 to provide affordable Intraocular Lens (IOL) to the people of his nation, which began as a local small-scale production unit in one of the blocks of the Aravind Eye Hospitals buildings at Anna Nagar in Madurai, has become one of the leading producers of eye care products in the country.
In the words of N. Venkatesh Prajna, Chief, Cornea and Refractive Surgery Services, and Director, Residency Training, Aravind Eye Care System, the manufacturing division was just another way for the founders to make eye care treatment more affordable and exceptional to the needy.
“When the developing countries like India was trailing behind other developed nations like USA for procuring medical equipment and was struggling to match the cost offered by the manufacturers, the visionaries of the Aravind Eye Care sitting in a remote city in the southern part of the country came out with ideas perceived by the world as just another pipe dream,” he added.
Though the visionary ideas pulled the institution to a long haul in turning them into successful products, he felt that it was worth the time and effort to come up with a product catering to the needs of the local population and condition.
A wide range of high quality and affordable ophthalmic products being produced at Aurolab acility in Madurai.
| Photo Credit:
G. Moorthy
One such example of this initiative was the production of anti-fungal drugs like Voroconazole and Econazole for the first time in the country for an occupational infection called fungal keratitis.
“While the global market and western counties did not pay attention to such a drug, countries like India where the occupational injury was more prevalent, the medicine to treat the infection was lacking,” Dr. Prajna noted.
People into farming and other physical labours owing to their unprotective work nature often suffer injuries in their eyes, he added. “For farmers, when they are involved in paddy threshing by beating, the husk or any other debris released from the process could easily hurt their eyes. Even a small injury if left unnoticed and untreated could lead to a major infection causing the person to lose their vision,” he stated.
As conditions like this were mostly localised and not worldwide, the local community could not be treated with the available medicines, he said. Pointing out the Aravind Eye Care system’s effort to come up with a medicine to address the issue, Dr. Prajna said it led to the development of a drug that could cure the problem and save thousands from blindness.
He said that having an indigenous research and manufacturing team enabled the institution to develop unique and creative medicines for both immediate local and global usage.
Workers at the vial production unit at Aurolab facility in Madurai.
| Photo Credit:
G. Moorthy
Similarly, R. D. Sriram, Managing Director, Aurolab, said eye drops for glaucoma, which were sold at ₹800 to ₹1,000 by other companies, were manufactured and sold at just ₹300.
“Though the price is also an important aspect to look for, Aurolab in addition considered the socio-economic condition of the rural poor for the efficiency of certain medications. When western companies developed a modern anti-glaucoma medication, Latanoprost, which required constant refrigeration, Aurolab with its advanced research and development produced the same medicine which could be used at room temperature. These relevant ideas to the rural world propelled the widespread use of these medicines across the length and breadth of our country,” he added.
When freezer would not be available in all households in rural villages and to prevent that need from hampering the availability of the eye drops, Mr. Sriram said, “We came up with our own product to adopt to the Indian climate and environment.”
Such efforts, even when welcomed for their comparatively affordable prices, were also adding value to their products, he noted. “The medicines and equipment that are sold to more than 120 countries meeting their requirements and standards have also made us stand firm and tall in the global market,” he mentioned.
Mr. Prajna said the affordable prices at which the medicines were sold could make one doubt about the quality of the raw materials used for manufacturing. “But to avoid such doubts and assumptions, we are particular about the companies we source our materials from,” he added.
N. Venkatesh Prajna (left), Chief, Cornea and Refractive Surgery Services, and Director, Residency Training, Aravind Eye Care System, at the vial production unit of Aurolab facility in Madurai
| Photo Credit:
G. Moorthy
V. Venkatesa Kannan, Head of Pharmaceutical Division, said that not only the raw materials, but the machinery used for manufacturing were of global standards. “Even in the new facility which has the capacity to produce 1.20 lakh vials per day, a world-class machine costing ₹30 crore is used to make the production meet increasing global needs,” he added.
Mr. Sriram said, as the entire 1,700 technical team employed in the manufacturing facility was from the local region, it was also a major job provider in the State. “We believed that the idea of employing the local community would improve the standard of living of the community dependent on the local economy,” he noted.
Dr. Prajna confidently said, “The indigenous manufacturing facility which is adding up also as a research facility is believed to meet the needs of doctors who are working on the patients and diagnosing newer medical condition every day.” As the research team was working in coordination with the manufacturing team, he added, “It is an add-on advantage to the researchers to avail new solutions and medicines according to their need.”
He said that the purpose of the institution was to achieve the dream of a society where no one suffers from vision loss.
Published – October 26, 2025 07:34 pm IST
