Pterygium is known to affect refractive astigmatism, which can have a significant impact on vision. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of pterygium excision on refractive astigmatism. Thirty-six eyes with primary pterygium with astigmatism of 2D or more were analysed before and after pterygium excision. Astigmatism increased with the increase in the grade of pterygium (P = 0.000001). The preoperative refractive cylinder decreased from 4.60±2D to 2.20±2.04D (P = 0.00001) after pterygium excision.