Abstract Introduction: Occurrence of dry eye symptoms foreign body sensation, irritation and blurring of vision is frequently encountered after routine cataract surgeries. Aim: To study the clinical presentation and severity of dry eye in patients undergoing Cataract surgery at a tertiary care hospital Materials and methods: The present study is a prospective, observational, randomized study conducted on 200 patients, over a duration of one year, attending outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital. Patients’ thorough ocular surface examination was done. The assessment included Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) , slit lamp biomicroscopy, tear film break-up time, Schirmer’s test-1 pre-operatively and at post-operative 1 week, 1 month and 3 months follow-ups. Data analysis was done by using SPSS----- Results: Patients were divided into two groups- those undergoing phacoemulsification and undergoing manual small incision cataract surgery (manual SICS). Both the groups showed increased dry eye symptoms after surgery, more in manual SICS as compared to Phacoemulsification group. There was a significant reduction in Tear film break-up time, Schirmer’s test 1 values and OSDI at subsequent follow-ups. Conclusion: This study concluded that there is worsening of dry eye symptoms after cataract surgery. SICS patients had more dry eye symptoms as compared to Phacoemulsification patients.