Being the largest provider of eye care services, and cataract being the major cause of blindness in India, the Cataract & IOL Services are availed of by the vast majority of Aravind patients. In 2005, the Services across all five hospitals have performed about 180,000 Cataract surgeries.

In 1993, Aravind pioneered the setting up of a centre where existing ophthalmologists can go for training to transition from intracapsular to extracapsular cataract extraction technique. The large volume and state-of-the-art infrastructure attract ophthalmologists around the world to come and learn at Aravind. So far a total of 1,166 ophthalmologists have received training in ECCE and SICS. Today the transition is from extra capsular cataract extraction to phacoemulsification. The Aravind eye hospital in its endeavor to train practicing ophthalmologists in this technique started a phaco training program. Now the training is offered at Aravind Eye Hospitals at Madurai, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Pondicherry.

The Cataract and IOL Services function as an independent unit at Aravind-Madurai whereas at the Aravind Eye Hospitals at Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Pondicherry, it is part of the General Ophthalmology Services.