Since Dr. V began, his eye hospitals have restored sight in more than one million people in India. Even with such tiny revenues per patient, Aravind makes a profit, with a gross margin of 40 percent. One operation is completed; another is begun right away. A very efficient and productive enterprise, Aravind now does more eye surgeries than any other provider in the world, though it accepts no government grants. The hospitals are totally self-supporting. Nor does Dr. V even try to hustle a profit from the enterprise for himself. He lives on a pension, taking no money out of Aravinand. In Tamil Nadu state, where his main hospital is located, the incidence of blindness is 20 percent below the rate in the rest of India.