“Over 3.5 Mn Eye Screenings In A Year, Small Steps, Big Change”

Many Indian villages still sit in the dark on basic amenities, including healthcare—and due to lack of accessibility rather than lack of resources. To close this gap, government partners with the corporates to bring primary health check-ups accessible to people living in remote regions. One such effort is the ZEISS’ Aloka Vision Programme. Dhaval Radia, Chief Financial Officer, ZEISS India, elaborated on the scale of the initiative-that is, how many screenings were done-and the larger impact of the programme in an interview with ResponsibleUs.

In ZEISS' 2023-24 sustainability reports, there were major reductions in carbon emissions, energy use, water consumption and waste management. Could you walk me through the key strategies behind these—carbon, energy, water, and waste—one by one?
Most of our work involves manufacturing, so we carefully plan how we source energy—prioritising solar and other renewables.

Water is another key focus. Manufacturing consumes a lot of water and generates waste, so we treat and recycle as much as possible. This approach helps us closely track improvements in our global and India-specific reports.

In India, I am personally involved in reusing wooden cartons from imported equipment and raw materials. It’s a large volume of wood, and rather than discarding it, we repurpose it—because that wood represents felled trees.

You mentioned how ZEISS repurposes wooden waste into school benches for government schools. Since it has three focus areas in its sustainability strategy, could you also share what you are doing in the other two—healthcare and the environment—in India?
Starting with healthcare - one of our key initiatives is the Aloka Foundation, which we run internally. Its mission is to provide quality eye care in rural and underserved parts of India. Eye care is a core business for us, and Aloka blends commercial expertise with social impact. We offer affordable eye care services and lenses to communities that often lack access to basic vision care.

We partner with NGOs to set up eye camps and vision centres in remote areas. These centres offer free eye check-ups, and if needed, we provide corrective lenses at a subsidised rate. Over the past 10 years, we have done over 35 lakh screenings and distributed prescription lenses to more than 4 lakh people across India.

Recently, we partnered with the Government of Karnataka in Kalaburagi to scale this. With state support for outreach and infrastructure, we plan to screen 12 lakh people—including children and seniors—over the next three years. This shift from working mainly with NGOs to collaborating with state governments helps us expand reach and impact across India.

How many villages have you reached, including those covered through camps?
We have reached 22,000 villages, conducted 20,000 camps, completed over 35 lakh screenings, and provided about 4 lakh spectacles.

How are you planning to expand this? You mentioned working with state governments—so what’s the scale-up strategy? How many more villages or screenings are planned in the next year?
We don’t focus on the number of villages directly. Our core metric is the number of screenings we are able to conduct. The village count is more of a byproduct. Our aim is always to increase impact and outcomes.

As I mentioned, we have done 35 lakh screenings over the last 10 years. Now, with our new partnership with the Karnataka government, we are aiming to do 12 lakh screenings in just the Kalaburagi region over the next three years. That shows the kind of scale state partnerships can enable. When governments support us with access to local infrastructure like hospitals, contact networks, and community facilities, it accelerates our programme implementation.

One of our key strategies going forward is to work more closely with state-led initiatives. Collaborating with governments instead of working in silos allows for faster and wider reach.

Any new addition to this?
We recently introduced the Aloka Van—a fully equipped mobile eye care unit that travels from village to village, conducting on-the-spot screenings. Unlike traditional camps, which required coordination for space and logistics, the van brings services directly to communities.

Currently in its pilot phase for about a year, we are closely monitoring its outcomes. If successful, we plan to scale it further for more efficient outreach.

Meanwhile, our traditional model of partnering with NGOs continues to grow alongside this new approach.

Did you face any challenges while connecting with local communities and delivering services on the ground?
Many challenges. Implementing these programmes is never easy. One of the biggest issues is accessibility. For example, we noticed that many rural public schools don’t have basic infrastructure—no benches, no bathrooms, sometimes not even a proper classroom setup. In India, around 13% of schoolchildren drop out before reaching high school, and poor infrastructure is a major factor.

To help in a small but meaningful way, we began repurposing wood waste from our packaging to build school benches. These are then donated to government schools in underserved areas. It not only helps improve learning conditions but also supports our sustainability efforts by giving new life to material that would otherwise be discarded. This initiative reflects how we try to integrate sustainability into our everyday operations while also giving back to the community in tangible ways.

If we talk about carbon neutrality—what specific targets has ZEISS set, especially by 2025? And what’s the overall approach over this 20-year journey?
In India, our focus has been on tracking every bit of our carbon footprint. We’ve developed an internal, industry-recognised dashboard to monitor carbon impact across operations.

Over the past two years, we began by accurately measuring emissions and implementing reduction strategies. One key area is wastewater treatment—we treat all water from our plants and reuse it for agriculture, reducing environmental impact.

We have also ramped up our use of solar energy. Our upcoming Devanahalli plant will be nearly fully solar-powered, and our current facilities already run on 75–80% solar. While our manufacturing sites have a strong renewable footprint, office electricity use from the grid remains a challenge.

To offset residual emissions, we are investing in Miyawaki forest projects as natural carbon sinks. Our approach is built on four pillars: measurement, reduction, transition to renewables, and offsetting.

You have addressed Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Now on circular economy and waste—the global report shows a 41% reduction in waste. How has that been achieved? Is there a strategy behind it?
We follow a circular approach in several ways. All four of our Indian plants generate wastewater, which is treated and reused on nearby farms, creating a closed-loop system with no discharge.

We also repurpose wooden packaging waste from our shipments into school benches. Under this initiative, we have donated over 650 benches to 17 government schools in Karnataka.

Both initiatives show how we reduce waste by reusing resources meaningfully, lowering our environmental footprint while supporting local communities.

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