How Trivitron's G.S.K. Velu became the accidental healthcare emperor

THE LIVES OF TWO Tamilians — Arokiaswamy Velumani and G.S.K. Velu — who pioneered and transformed organised diagnostics healthcare in India, have striking similarities.

Velumani, born to poor parents in a village near Coimbatore, travelled 25 kilometres to attend colleges that offered affordable education. He had no money for hostel accommodation or commuting. His mother, who earned just ₹3 a day selling milk, pawned her bangles to pay for his college fees.

After completing his BSc, Velumani joined a small pharmaceutical company, which later shut down. He then joined BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) as a laboratory assistant and, over the next 14 years, rose to become a scientist specialising in thyroid biochemistry. In 1995, he quit his government job and invested all his savings in launching a small thyroid testing laboratory in Mumbai. That venture grew into one of India’s largest diagnostics chains. In 2021, Velumani sold Thyrocare to PharmEasy for ₹4,546 crore. No wonder, his life is often celebrated as a classic example of the rags-to-riches story from rural India.